Accidental Treasure
by epochalypse
Summary: The death of a close friend brings Hermione and Draco together. And then there's the issue about the baby..."Oh, so you do want kids! Well, good luck with that. This baby's going to be the only kid that'll ever call you 'Daddy'," Hermione growled. EWE.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** My own take on a 'baby' fic. I'm sure it's been done before but this is my version of it. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** JK Rowling owns everything. Because she is God. And I am not.

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><p><em>October 4th<em>

_Day 1  
><em>

"You know, I've always wondered why Pansy became friends with you," Draco sneered at Hermione. She looked up from the polystyrene cup of coffee that she held in her hand and rolled her eyes at him.

"Maybe she decided it was better than being friends with _you_," She retorted.

He scoffed. "Pansy happens to be my best friend, not yours, you lowly mud – "

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Draco Malfoy," She seethed. "We are here today for Pansy and only for Pansy. Don't you dare bring in your immaturities when we have more important things to worry about."

The walls were white. The ceiling was white. The floor tiles were white. Everything about this place was white. And the smell, don't let him get started on the smell. Draco hated the smell of the medicine. He took every opportunity to scrunch up his nose every time a nurse or a Healer passed by. He found joy in little things like that.

"Fine, whatever. You should know that she's only here because it's your fault," Draco accused.

Hermione put down her cup of coffee, possibly to restrain the urge to throw the hot drink into his face.

"My fault? How is it _my__ fault_? It was an accident, you dimwit!" She gripped the hospital bench, hard.

"Of course it's your fault! You and your bloody Muggles!" Draco growled. "Who's idea was it to go have a girly night out in Muggle London?"

"Mine! But that doesn't mean – "

"It means everything!" Draco stood up and faced Hermione. "If you hadn't brought her to that stupid stupid place, she wouldn't be in there, right now, fighting for her life!"

"Accidents happen, Malfoy! They do, alright! It's not my fault that – that – " Hermione was shaking now. Who was he to question her? Who was he to make her feel like everything was her fault?

"That what? That Pansy was too careless to notice the oncoming cars when she crossed the road? You could've at least helped her, Granger! You could've stopped her!" Draco roared.

"I WAS CARELESS TOO, MALFOY! Don't you dare – have you ever stopped and thought – do you even know how _guilty_ I feel right now? I know I could've done something, but I didn't! Do you know how useless that makes me feel?" Hermione stood up and poked him in the chest. "You're despicable!"

"I don't care! You could've saved her!" Draco yelled. "Saved her from this mess!"

"The Healers are doing their best, alright! Doing their best for the both of them!" Hermione put her hands to her face as she started to cry.

Draco frowned as he walked back to his side of the bench.

" – they must be close, I thought I heard yelling!" Footsteps approached the two people. "There they are!"

A blur of red engulfed Hermione in a big, comforting hug as the lean, mean, blonde machine just stared at the stonily.

"Malfoy," Another voice spoke.

"Potter," He replied, tired. It was challenging to argue with Hermione Granger. Both mentally and physically challenging.

"What happened?" Ginny asked Hermione, still wrapping her up in a protective hug. She glared at Malfoy.

"Drunk driver," Draco said softly. Hermione was still crying so he took it up to himself to answer their questions. "Granger sent me a Patronus to help her bring Pans into St. Mungo's. She's been in there –" He pointed at the locked room in front of them. "– for a few hours now."

"How – how bad is it?" Harry asked.

"We haven't had a full report yet but the Healers said they're trying their best to save … it first," Draco sighed.

"Him," Hermione said softly.

"What?" Draco looked at her.

"Him, not it," Hermione repeated herself.

"Oh…" Draco mumbled, looking down to his knees.

"Harry, why don't you go down to the cafeteria and see if you could get these two some sandwiches?" Ginny ordered her boyfriend. Harry shrugged and walked off.

"How far along was she?" Ginny sat in between the two.

"Almost eight months, I guess," Draco said sullenly. His eyes lit up as he realized he was talking to Ginny, Pansy's other best friend. He was surprised the day he came back from a three month business program in Spain, almost four years ago to find that his best friend had bonded with these two Gryffindor witches while he was gone. "Hey, Weasley, do you – do you by any chance know who the father was?"

Ginny shook her head. "Nobody knew. I don't know if Pansy herself knew."

About nine months ago, Pansy took off to Greece for a long, well deserved holiday. And she came back pregnant. It wasn't like her to just be so careless like that. Hermione knew how much Pansy wept and wept every night, thinking of what they would do with that thing growing inside of her.

Then, she made the biggest decision of her lifetime. She decided to keep it. There was nothing left for her to lose. She was living with her two best friends in wizarding London. She had already lost her family, the whole Parkinson estate as well as her fortune when her father was found guilty of funding the Death Eater cause. Her mother had gone slightly (it was an understatement) mental when she found out they were broke and had ran off to live with one of her sisters, leaving Pansy behind.

So here she was, fighting for her life and the life of her unborn child.

A hand held out a sandwich into Draco's face. Harry was back.

"What time is it?" Draco croaked, taking the sandwich and putting it next to him.

"Just past six," Harry checked his watch. He held out a cup to Draco. "Thought you might've needed something stronger than coffee."

"I don't take coffee, anyways. Disgusting Muggle drink," He took the cup and sniffed its contents. "Firewhiskey."

Harry nodded. "Don't tell Gin but I think you need it."

"This doesn't mean we're friends, right?" Draco looked up at the dark haired wizard.

He shook his head and smirked. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, Malfoy."

Harry approached Ginny and Hermione, who was now slowly eating her sandwich. He put his arms around the both of them as he tried to comfort the still-crying Hermione.

Draco looked at the both of them in envy. Where were his best friends? One of them was lying in the hospital and the other was probably gallivanting all the way across Italy. What would happen to them if – if Pansy didn't make it?

"Ahem."

A man's slight cough had brought him out of his thoughts. He put down the cup of Firewhiskey (he would thank Potter, eventually. And where – how the devil did he get Firewhiskey in a hospital?) as he looked up to the man.

"What is it?" Draco asked. "Tell us!"

The Healer had a pained expression on his face. "We had some complications while delivering the baby."

Hermione looked at him in shock. "Are they – is she alright?"

"The baby is fine, Miss Granger," the Healer said. "We delivered a healthy baby boy, premature but still healthy. He's currently sleeping in the ward for newborns."

Draco knew something was amiss. "There's something you're not telling us." He merely stated.

"Miss Parkinson is very weak. We will have her moved from the Operation Room into her private room immediately," He stated.

The four people in front of him turned pale. The redhead spoke first. "How weak?"

"I do not wish to say it – "

"Just cut the crap! Tell us! I'm sick of sitting in the dark while you let my best friend _die_! Just tell us how long she has left, you blubbering cow!" Draco yelled.

"Malfoy, calm down," Hermione gripped his arm.

"Don't touch me," He snarled and shrugged her arm off him. "All I want to know is how is it that this incompetent fool here is allowed to treat patients?"

"Mr. Malfoy, if you would please calm down…" The Healer tried.

In Draco's opinion, this Healer was an even more of a sniveling idiot than Longbottom was. And that's saying something.

"Just shut up and tell me," Draco said.

"How is he supposed to shut up and tell him at the same time?" A new voice piped up beside Hermione.

"Ron! When did you get here?" Harry slung an arm over his best friend.

Draco scowled. He felt like he was never going to get the news about Pansy.

"Hello, important matters here, Weasley," Draco growled. "Just … continue, alright?"

"Miss Parkinson does not have long to live. She suffered bad internal injuries from the accident and the potions we are giving here are only strong enough to last her a few more hours. She had personally requested to see Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger," The Healer said. "Please excuse me while I check up on Miss Parkinson."

He walked back into the Operation Room.

_This__ couldn__'__t __be __happening_, Draco thought. _Pansy__ can__'__t__ just__ … __die!__ She'__s__ only__ twenty-three, __for__ Merlin__'__s__ sake.__ She__ can__'__t__ die, __she__ just __can__'__t __die__…_

"The nurses are transferring her to Room 306 via a back way as we speak," The Healer said once more. "Please follow me."

The (now) group of five walked silently behind the Healer as they made their way four floors down and passed two different wards into the Trauma Centre. The Healer stopped in front of Room 306 and opened the door. A man dressed in professional robes walked out of the room, nodding curtly to the party that stood outside.

They walked in and on the bed lay a very pale, bruised Pansy Parkinson.

Ginny and Hermione both let out a cry of anguish as they rushed to the side of their best friend. Draco rushed in too, but unlike the two girls, he stood at the edge of the bed, unsure of what to do with himself at the moment. The other two men walked in and stood beside him, patting his back uncomfortably.

"Hey," Pansy whispered to the crowd. "Where – where's my son?"

"In the newborn ward, Pans," Hermione gripped Pansy's hand. "He's alright. He's safe and healthy."

"I know, I had the chance to hold him earlier and… and he's beautiful. Draco, Hermione, come closer," Pansy said weakly. "You guys know I love the both of you very much, don't you?"

They both nodded. Draco couldn't care less that he now had tears forming in his eyes as he gripped Pansy's other free hand. Hermione, however, was crying freely once again.

"Take care of him," Pansy squeezed both their hands. "You were supposed to be his godparents, you know that? I was going to ask both of you tomorrow."

Hermione sobbed. Draco had fully formed the tears in his eyes at the thought of losing his best friend.

"I – I don't have any more time. I want the both of you to take care of him as you would your own son," Pansy pleaded. "I spoke to my lawyer, that man who just walked out… I've named the both of you joint guardians of my son."

"But Pansy," Draco said softly. "Granger and I will kill each other…"

"I don't care, Draco!" Pansy snapped with all the energy she could muster (which wasn't much). "Who can I trust my son with if not my best friends?"

"Pansy, please …" Hermione begged.

"Just promise me you'll take care of him, please. I don't want my son to end up in some half-arsed orphanage!" Pansy said softly. "The both of you have such great characters, you're both intelligent and – and you'll be wonderful parents, I know."

The both of them nodded their heads as she gave their hands one last squeeze.

Ginny pushed past Draco as she hugged Pansy. "We'll help too!"

Pansy managed a weak smile. "I know. My son's going to be so lucky to have so many wonderful people around him…"

"Erm, have you thought of a name?" Ron asked, suddenly. Everyone looked at him. "You know, to prevent Malfoy from giving him some weird space name?"

Draco shot him a scowl.

"Aidan," Pansy smiled softly. "Call him Aidan. I've always loved that name."

"Aidan Parkinson," Hermione whispered. "That's adorable." Harry nodded in agreement.

"No, Aidan _Malfoy_," Draco said. "If I'm going to be his guardian, he's taking my name."

"We're going to be his guardians, Malfoy. I think I have a say in his name," Hermione glared at him.

"Fine, you can choose some rotten Muggle middle name for him if it pleases you," Draco sneered.

"Malfoy, do you like children?" Hermione asked suddenly. "Like, do you ever want children of your own?"

"Of course I do! I mean, to continue the bloodline, of course," Draco replied, warily.

"Oh, so you do want kids! Well, good luck with that. This baby's going to be the only kid that'll ever call you 'Daddy'," Hermione growled. "No woman with half a rat's brain would ever, ever think of procreating with the likes of you!"

"Why, you damned -" Draco glared at Hermione.

"Guys, stop it!" Harry said. "Stop arguing for just a minute and let's just – Pansy is more important than your petty fights right now."

"I know we've never really gotten along in the past… I want all of you to know that I'm sorry for that. I could not ask for a better group of friends to be with me here right now… I – I love all of you," Pansy said weakly before releasing her grip on Hermione and Draco's hands.

And then she was gone, leaving behind the two most unsuspecting people to be the parents of her child.

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><p><strong>AN:** What do you think? Good? Bad? Continue? Scrap it? Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I might've made Pansy's death a little too rushed. My apologies. I hope this chapter is alright, I assume it would be considered as a 'filler' chapter? By the way, thank you to all who've reviewed/favourited/alerted. It means a lot to me. And uh, I'm sorry for the lateness ._.

**Warning:** OOC Draco in this chapter (and perhaps all the following chapters but meh, you tell me, yeah?).

**Disclaimer: **JK Rowling owns everything. Because she is God. And I am not._  
><em>

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><p><em>October 7th<em>

_Day 4  
><em>

_Three days later_

"Would any of you like to say a few last words to the deceased?"

"May I?" Draco stood forward in place of the minister. He had dark rings under his eyes as if he hadn't slept in days. His cheeks were slightly sunken and his hair was messed up. Today, Draco Malfoy could not care less about his appearance.

"Pansy … you've been my best friend ever since we were kids. I – I remember the times when we used to spend the summers at your estate and mine. I preferred yours, you know. Maybe it was because you had that swimming pool with the slide that I was so jealous of."

Draco laughed bitterly.

"I remember during fourth year, you came crying to me because nobody wanted to take you to the Yule Ball. So I took you. You were all dressed up –" He paused, remembering the memory. "- you were wearing that fancy jewellery that your mum gave you. Merlin … I remember you were downright livid that I spent that night gawking at Granger – I digress ... I remember how you used to mother me when we were in Hogwarts because you thought my own mum wasn't giving me enough care-packs. I've never forgotten any of that. I c-can't forget.

"You've always stood by my side when I made bad decisions. You were the one who stuck around when everyone else left. You were my best friend, my partner-in-crime. You were like my other half. But most of all Pans –" Draco choked on the sobs that were now forming. " – you were my sister, and I love you, so, so much. And I'm going to do my best to raise your son. You just count on me."

Ginny sat silently in between Harry and Hermione as she sobbed into Harry's arms. Ron sat solemnly next to a shaking Hermione. He tried wrapping his arms around her shoulder but she merely shrugged him off.

Draco walked back to the seats and took a seat behind them, next to Blaise Zabini. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand while Blaise handed him a cigarette. He refused it. "Not now. I can't go to the lawyer's office smelling like an ashtray."

Blaise nodded in understanding and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Granger's going up to speak now."

Hermione cleared her throat softly and wiped her tears with her handkerchief.

"Pansy, four years ago, you stumbled into our lives when Ginny and I found you struggling on the Tube. It was a laugh to see you in Muggle London but I remember your face; you – you were so sad and I don't ever regret for a moment for letting you into our group of friends, and even letting you stay with us until you found your own place.

"But of course, we soon realised we couldn't let you go. You were just … too precious to us. So you became our roommate, and a member of our group, a best friend. You were different from what we were used to, different from the girl you were in Hogwarts. You helped us when we needed girl advice or fashion sense since you say I have none. Heh. Pans, I admired your honesty and your ability to say and do anything without regret…

"In these four years, you've become very much one of us. We – I love you very much. Oh Gods, Pansy. I'm g-going to miss you s-so much," Hermione sniffed. She clutched her handkerchief tightly. "I don't know – The flat, it feels so empty without you there; without your laughter or your snark. Pans, I'm going to take care of him, don't worry. He's in good hands."

She stepped down from the podium and walked right into Ron's open arms. She cried and cried into her best friend's shoulder as the minister gave the buriers the signal to lower her casket into the grave.

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><em>

_Two hours later_

"I can't believe she's really … you know… gone," Blaise muttered to Draco. The both of them had yet to move from their original seats during the funeral. Everyone else had either walked into the church or had Apparated home.

"Me neither. It just happened so fast," Draco mumbled back. He looked at the fresh grave and looked away quickly. "Can you believe it? I expected a small turn-out but I didn't think it would've been this small."

The only people that had bothered turning up were those few Gryffindors and a handful of Slytherins. None of her family members turned up, not even her own mother.

"Greg and Millicent could've at least stayed for the burial. I haven't seen them for ages," Blaise said. Draco numbly nodded. "Theo left right after Greg and Millicent. What happened to your mum, mate? She and Pansy were really close at some point, right?"

"Yeah, they were close but Mum had an appointment in Marseilles that she couldn't cancel. You know how she is with her business," Draco scoffed.

"So, Pans really left a kid for you and Granger?" Blaise asked.

Draco nodded. "His name's Aidan. I haven't actually seen him yet. He's got to stay in the Newborn Ward for a bit. Premature, you see."

Blaise took out his cigarette and lit it. He inhaled deeply and blew out a cloud of smoke. "Don't you need to see some lawyers?"

Draco stood up and nodded. "I guess it should be about now. We've got to discuss the terms of the baby. Like, what are we supposed to do with him and everything."

"Good luck, mate," Blaise stood up and patted his back. "You sure you don't want one for the road?"

Draco shook his head. "Can't let the lawyers think I'm a bad influence for the kid. They might automatically give the kid to Granger."

He walked off into the church where he found Hermione sitting among the pews. Everyone else seemed to have already left the place. He slid in next to her and put a hesitant hand to her shoulder. She turned and gave him a tear-streaked smile.

"She was closer to me than with Ginny. Maybe it was because I accepted her earlier than Ginny did. She wasn't used to the kindness; she thought we had some ulterior motive. But she warmed up eventually," Hermione spoke with a sombre tone. "She was a wonderful person."

"Indeed," Draco said. "Granger… the things I said at the hospital… it wasn't right for me to blame you. You weren't in the position to do anything. Accidents happen."

"Glad you finally figured that out, Malfoy," Hermione said wryly. "But then again – thanks."

They sat in silence for a few moments. Draco didn't know how long they had sat there but he knew that it was beautiful, this place. The light shone through the stained-glass windows onto the floor and the pews. It was peaceful. He needed some peace in this moment.

"We should go to the lawyers," Draco broke the silence.

"Yes, yes we should," Hermione said quietly. "Do you know where it is?"

He nodded, standing up. "Do you know? Or would you rather Side-Along?" Draco held out a hand towards her.

"I know but I'd rather Side-Along. I don't feel stable to do it on my own," Hermione stood up, taking his hand. "I wouldn't want to get Splinched."

"Get ready, alright," Draco took out his wand and concentrated.

Hermione felt the familiar tug in her belly as they Apparated into the Parkinson family lawyer's office. They straightened themselves out. Hermione pressed her hair down as she retouched her make-up by magic. Draco mumbled a Glamour charm to make his eye-bags disappear.

"Mr Whittle, please," He said to the blonde-haired, bespectacled witch sitting at the front desk.

"Do you have an appointment, sir?" The witched drawled lazily, not bothered to even look up from her nails she was manicuring.

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Do you know who I am? Do you think I need an appointment to see Mr Whittle?" He tapped his fingers on the desk.

Hermione stood beside him as she eyed the receptionist. "I would prefer if you do not waste our time and tell Mr Whittle that Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are exceptionally eager to see him."

The witch's eyes snapped open as soon as Hermione mentioned their names. "Oh, you could have told me earlier! Mr Whittle is most definitely available to see you right now." She laughed awkwardly. "First elevator on your left, then press the button with his name on it, Whittle."

"Thank you," Draco said through gritted teeth as he pulled Hermione towards the elevator.

Within a matter of a few seconds, the elevator door opened and Hermione searched for the 'Whittle' button and pressed it. The elevator seemed to have been enchanted to go directly to the person's office as it moved from left to right, up and down.

By the time the both of them reached Mr Whittle's office, they were both quite dizzy from the unexpected ride as it was quite similar to the elevators in Gringotts. Draco firmly knocked on the door as he waited for the opening.

An elderly looking man sat at the desk, reviewing some paperwork. He stood up when he saw the both of them and ushered them in, seating them on the two plush armchairs in front of his mahogany desk.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger, I hope you are well," Whittle looked at the both of them and gave them a grandfatherly smile. "I'm sure both of you are very busy people so I would just like to inform you what Miss Parkinson has requested and if the both of you have no problem, you could just give me your signature and we shall be done."

Draco and Hermione nodded.

"As I have been told, Miss Parkinson has named her child 'Aidan' and the option of a middle name has been given to you. However, as the law states, Miss Parkinson is a single mother and therefore, Aidan has to take her last name, unless one of you decides to legally adopt him as your own," Whittle eyed the both of them whom have undeniably paled at the term 'legally adopt'.

"Aidan Parkinson is fine," Draco choked out. Hermione smirked. So much for Aidan Malfoy.

"Currently, he is under joint-guardianship of the both of you. You are the closest things the child will have as parents," He said sternly. "From the day you take home the child from the hospital, which is in two weeks' time, the both of you shall be his full-time guardians. Am I clear so far?"

The pair nodded their heads.

"Now, let me get started to Miss Parkinson's requests," Whittle smiled at the both of them.

"Firstly, Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy and Miss Hermione Jean Granger will be appointed as joint legal guardians of one Aidan Parkinson.

"Secondly, Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy and Miss Hermione Jean Granger are required to take care of the said Aidan Parkinson as parents would take care of their child.

"Thirdly, Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy and Miss Hermione Jean Granger shall refrain from any arguments, name-calling, insults, fights and anything of the like while holding joint-guardianship of Aidan Parkinson to refrain him from being ill-influenced

"Fourthly, Aidan Parkinson shall be under the care of Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy and Miss Hermione Jean Granger until he turns eighteen where he will be considered a legal adult.

"Fifthly, Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy and Miss Hermione Jean Granger are required to put in equal amount of time and energy taking care of Aidan Parkinson, as requested by Miss Pansy Parkinson.

"Sixthly and lastly, Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy and Miss Hermione Jean Granger are advised and encouraged to live together while taking care of Aidan Parkinson to ensure the child has a balanced family life, instead of having a weekend with Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy and the weekdays with Miss Hermione Jean Granger. Also as requested by Miss Pansy Parkinson.

"Is there anything else?" Whittle looked at the both of them while conjuring two quills and ink bottles for them to sign their names.

Draco groaned inwardly. He should've known Pansy would pull something like this on him.

"Live together?" Hermione choked. "Pansy must be crazy! We – we can't give Aidan the balanced family life he needs!"

"And why is that, Miss Granger?" Whittle gave them both a kind smile.

Draco thought he reminded him of Dumbledore. This Whittle guy seemed to have an odd twinkle in his eye when he smiled. Draco wanted more than anything to get out of this office.

"Because we – we're not compatible to live together!" Hermione cried.

"And we'll definitely kill each other!" Draco added.

"Correction – he'll kill me!" Hermione growled. "There's no way in _hell_ am I living with you!"

"I know! I'm not going anywhere near your Muggle excuse for a flat either!" Draco sneered back.

"Excuse me? That Muggle excuse of a flat happens to be where Pansy used to live!" Hermione shot back. "Merlin, you are so infuriating with all that anti-Muggle nonsense you spew out!"

"Wasn't like she actually had a choice, did she, you –" Draco seethed.

"Shut your bloody mouth, Malfoy," Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Don't you dare continue that sentence if you know what's best for you."

"Why? What would you do to me?" Draco scoffed. "Wonderful little Gryffindor, you wouldn't dare hurt me."

"I will cut your manhood into little, little pieces in the middle of the night using a pair of garden shears and then I'll string them all up and put them around your neck, just like a little necklace. Am I clear?" Hermione snarled.

Draco simply rolled his eyes. "Whatever floats your boat, Granger? It's about time you see what a real man's –"

"Ahem," Whittle cut in on their spat. "Please, Miss Parkinson has expressed her desire for the both of you to live together, for the sake of her child. I'm sure you could at least fulfil a _dead_ lady's wish?"

The both of them glared at each other. Draco smirked as Hermione gave him a look of disgust.

The man just gave them both a knowing smile. "Besides, Miss Parkinson spoke to me about your predicament and she is absolutely certain that you both are the perfect pair to raise her son. She knows the both of you and if I remember clearly, she claims that this opportunity will help clear your differences."

Draco and Hermione both gaped openly at him.

"P – perfect pair?"

"What nonsense!"

He gave them another smile. Draco was getting sick of those smiles. They were creeping him out a little bit too much.

"I see you have no issue with the contract, apart from the living arrangements. I'm sure the both of you will be able to sort it out like two _mature_ adults within these two weeks before you bring Aidan home. Now, would you please sign here, Mr Malfoy and Miss Granger?" He handed them a quill each and pointed towards the end of the parchment, which already had their name printed on.

Grudgingly, they both signed it because they knew Pansy would've wanted them to.

They stood up after they signed the paper and quickly shook his hand.

"Thank you for having us. I hope we did not cause you any problems, and if we did, it was his fault," Hermione gave Mr Whittle a small smile.

"Please do not listen to this delusional witch. Nothing is my fault. Thank you, nonetheless," Draco gave the elder man a curt nod before dragging Hermione out with him.

Whittle smiled at the both of them. He knew the main reason Pansy had decided that they would be the perfect pair. He could practically feel the unresolved sexual tension oozing from the both of them the very moment they entered his office. "An interesting choice, Miss Parkinson. An interesting choice indeed."

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><p><strong>AN:** How was it? Was Draco as OOC as I had accidentally portrayed him to be? Concrit (constructive criticism) would be lovely. Please review and thank you for reading! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I love all your encouragement. It only makes me want to write more. And here we are, chapter three!

**Warning:** OOC Draco. I don't know why, I always feel like my Draco is OOC. I have characterisation insecurities :(

**Disclaimer: **JK Rowling owns everything. Because she is God. And I am not.

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><p>"You're a fool, Granger, if you think I'm going to live with you," Draco snarled, loosening his tie as they both walked out of Whittle's office.<p>

"Am I?" She spun around and looked at him. "Am I such a fool that I want to fulfill my _dead_ best friend's wishes? Am I such a fool that I want to make sure her son, which so now happens to be _our_ son, gets a good upbringing? Am I such a fool to want Aidan to have a good life, a good family and a pair of living people to take care of him, in one house?"

Draco looked at the livid witch in front of him. Okay, so she might've been a little stressed…

"I don't care, Malfoy. I am at my wits end trying not to argue with you when that is all you want to do. We have two weeks to prepare my flat to be suitable for Aidan," Hermione said, tiredly. "We're lucky that we don't have anyone from the ministry keeping tabs on us."

Draco frowned. "What do you mean by 'keeping tabs on us'?"

Hermione sighed. "Sometimes, when there's a complaint made on unfit parents, the ministry will send someone from their Home and Health Department to check up on the family. Sometimes, people lose their children that way. Some people are assigned these 'officers' for surprise check-ups. We're lucky that we don't have one."

"Yeah, if we ever did, Aidan would be gone in an instant," Draco scoffed.

"Whatever. We should go home, get some rest," Hermione walked towards the Apparition point. "We should also discuss what we're going to do. Living arrangements and everything."

Hermione took out her wand and Apparated home leaving Draco open-mouthed, ever so ready to yell: "WHAT LIVING ARRANGEMENTS?"

_._

_._

_._

_October 21st_

_Day 18  
><em>

_Two weeks later_

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Groan, groan, groan.

Complain, complain, complain.

Whine, whine, whine.

"SHUT UP, MALFOY!" Hermione turned around and smacked him on the chest.

He glared at her. There he was, walking behind her and carrying her things like some bloody House Elf, and she was yelling at him! The crowd of Muggles around them stared openly at the pair.

Draco wasn't very happy about two things. One, he was being dragged to go shopping for Aidan's things with Hermione. Shopping was a horrendous activity which required so much time and effort that he was just not willing to give. And two, if shopping wasn't bad enough; Hermione had decided that it was better to go shopping in _Muggle_ London, of all places!

"We're going to put all of this stuff at my –no, it's _our_ flat now and then we're going to get Aidan, alright?" Hermione looked up to him and hissed. "I don't want to hear any more complaints from you, Malfoy."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Why isn't your little posse here to help you out?"

"Ginny has Harpies practice; Ron and Harry have Auror work. So that leaves me with you," Hermione said. "They're all coming over later for dinner to see Aidan so if I were you, I'd be on my best behaviour."

"Pfft, I should be at Auror work. You can't just let Potter and Weasley train the newbies without me," Draco scoffed, balancing the heavy shopping bags on his arms. "Boss nearly gave me hell for taking the day off."

"You're Aidan's god – no, father! He should be the top priority on your list, not your work!" She almost yelled at him. "You are so infuriating! Let's just go home now. The sooner we set these things down, the sooner we can go to the hospital!"

Hermione stormed off to a small alleyway while Draco followed warily behind her.

"Side-Along," Hermione grabbed his arm and looked around her. When she was positive there weren't anyone looking at them, she took out her wand. "Now."

And with a crack, they landed in Hermione's flat.

Draco had immediately dumped all the things he carried on the floor and slumped himself on her sofa. Hermione glared at the back of his head.

"Just make yourself at home, why don't you?" She growled. "Seeing as you're practically going to live here soon enough."

"Keep telling yourself that, Granger," he mumbled to himself. "Say! I've given you the wonderful task of giving Aidan a middle name, didn't I? So what rubbish have you come up with, seeing as we need to complete his Birth Certificate later at the hospital anyways?"

"I've got two, actually. Maximilian and Cato. Maximilian means 'greatest' and Cato means 'all-knowing' and the both of them happen to be of Latin origin," Hermione said smugly.

Draco nodded. "Impressive. You actually managed to find names of value."

"Piss off. So what do you think? Maximilian or Cato?" Hermione crossed her arms and sat across Draco. "Make it quick, which sounds better? Aidan Maximilian or Aidan Cato?"

"Maximilian. It has a more regal touch to it," Draco drawled.

"Good. Now we've sorted that out, we should freshen up before going to the hospital," Hermione stood up and walked to her bathroom. "I'll meet you at St. Mungo's in fifteen minutes."

Draco stood up and Apparated back to his flat. He had yet to move all his things to Hermione's flat, like they had arranged. He'd moved out of the manor as soon as the war was over because honestly, who would want to live there? The crazy old bastard had used his home as his base camp; Draco did not want to relive any memories. Sure, that had been his childhood home but seriously, it still creeped him out to be there.

He quickly hopped into the shower and he was out in two minutes. Draco opened the small cabinet above the sink to take out his hair gel and a comb. He gave his reflection a devilish smirk before heading to his wardrobe, taking out a grey shirt and black slacks. He smoothened his slacks before rolling up his sleeves to his elbow before looking at his left forearm. He rolled his sleeves back down with a sigh and buttoned the cuffs. The light, faded tattoo marred his pale skin, no matter how much he scrubbed; he could never get it off. It was barely there, but it was still there. Glamour charms could only do so much.

And after deciding that it was not worth it to wallow in self-pity, Draco Malfoy was ready to take his godson, dammit no – it's son now, home. Damn, that's something to get used to.

.

.

.

Hermione Granger was waiting impatiently outside of the Newborn Ward. She looked through the wide window separating the anxious parents and their sleeping babies. She smiled when she spotted the name 'Aidan' tagged to the basinet.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" A light voice piped up next to her.

Hermione turned around to look at a brunette woman smiling at her.

"Yes, they are," Hermione smiled at the woman. "Which one's yours?"

The woman pointed at a baby wrapped up in a pink blanket. "That one. And yours?"

Hermione felt jittery. What should she tell the woman? She obviously couldn't tell her the truth! Why, oh why did she –

"Third from the left, second row," A smooth voice cut in between them. "That's our little Aidan."

Draco wanted to snicker so badly as he let the last four words drip off his tongue in such a sickly sweet manner. Draco slipped his arm around Hermione's waist, smirking at her obvious discomfort while she squirmed at his touch, yet maintaining a smile.

"Oh! He's absolutely beautiful, and what a lovely name too!" The woman smiled at the both of them. "Is he your first?"

Draco nodded eagerly. "Yes, and I daresay, I can't wait for the next one." He gave Hermione a wink.

The woman laughed. "Oh, I better leave the both of you. You obviously want some privacy to look at your baby together!"

Once the woman was out of sight, Hermione struggled to get out of Draco's iron-strong grip. When all failed, she decided to smack him on his chest.

"You idiot!" She hissed. "What the hell were you playing at?"

Draco smirked. "I wanted to have a little bit of fun before I go home with my lovely son."

"_God_son, Malfoy," Hermione corrected.

"I'm getting used to the idea of having a _son_, Granger," Draco drawled, walking away from her. "Come on, we should go get some paperwork done up to take him home."

"Well! Then I might just have to call him my own son too!" Hermione huffed. "And by home, I hope you do mean _my flat_."

"Anyways, godson or son, who cares? We're responsible for him now. And yes, yes, of course I mean your dump – err flat. After all, half of my clothes are already there," He said bored. "Now, can you walk faster?"

Hermione sped up to him. "You should know that the only reason I'm tolerating you right now is because of two things, Pansy and Aidan."

"Likewise, love," Draco rolled his eyes.

Finally, they stopped in front of the main desk (the place where they should have decided to meet, to save a trip back and forth) which was a circular counter.

The nurse beamed at them with such a smile, Draco thought he was going to go blind. The woman's teeth were practically shining. And it didn't help that she had a horsey smile either.

"Good afternoon! How may I help you today?" She said with an extremely chipper tone.

Hermione nudged Draco to say something because she too, was staring at the woman's teeth. They were abnormally large for a normal person… And Hermione knew what abnormally large teeth felt like.

"Err, we'd like to take our –" he coughed as Hermione poked his ribs. " – son home?"

"Oh, of course! Let me lead you to the office right away!" She stood up from behind the counter and with the clickity-clack of her heels; she walked them down the hallway to a brightly lit room. "In here, you'll find Healer Garrick. He'll handle the documents for you."

The nurse knocked on the door for the pair. "Have a good day, lovelies!" And she finally left them alone.

"Sweet Circe, I thought she'd never leave," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"It was like she was high on Billywig Stings," Draco grumbled. "And I'd know."

The door swung open as the Healer inside flicked his wand to open it for them.

"Hello," He extended his hand for a shake. "I'm Healer Garrick and I'll be sorting out your documents today, including any extra details that you'd like to add to the Birth Certificate. Middle name, I'm sure."

Draco gripped the man's hand tightly and shook it.

"I'm Hermione and this is Draco," Hermione smiled at him while taking his hand. "We're hoping we can take Aidan Parkinson home. It has been two weeks, after all."

"Yes, of course. Now, please sit down while I look for his folder," Healer Garrick motioned towards the two stiff-looking chairs in front of him while he turned around and rummaged through his file cabinet.

He placed Aidan's file on the table. "There we are! According to Miss Parkinson's lawyer, the both of you are Aidan's godparents and are now his legal guardians, right?"

The duo nodded.

"Good, I'd like to see some identification and I do have to ask you a few security questions of course, given by Miss Parkinson herself," Healer Garrick explained. "Wands, please?"

They nodded once more. Hermione looked through her handbag and took out her wand. Draco took his out from his holster on his ankle. He sneered at Hermione when he caught her staring at him.

"Ankle, Malfoy? Could you not be any more predictable?"

"Better than my handbag, right, Granger?"

They handed their wands towards the Healer as he performed an Identification Charm on it. "Alright, it seems that your wands recognize you two as its owners. Now, time for the security questions."

He handed their wands back to them. He flipped open the file to a new page with just a single piece of parchment containing Pansy's wobbly handwriting.

"Mr. Malfoy, let me start with you. What embarrassing incident happened to you at Flourish and Blotts during the summer before your third year that only Miss Parkinson would know of?" Healer Garrick asked Draco seriously.

Draco's normally pale face was turning an unmistakable shade of tomato.

"Disadsa," He mumbled, not looking up.

"Pardon?" Hermione asked, a small grin forming on her face. "Didn't quite catch that, Malfoy?"

"Diarrhoea at Flourish and Blotts," Draco forced out, a grimace forming on his face.

Hermione burst into a fit of laughter. "Shut up, you bloody cow! I was only thirteen!" Draco snarled.

"Yes, well, it was unfortunate indeed, Mr. Malfoy. And yes, that is the correct answer," Healer Garrick smiled. "Now, Miss Granger, what happened during Christmas last year, the one where you ended up under the mistletoe at a party hosted by Blaise Zabini?"

Hermione paled. Why, oh why, would Pansy ever want to bring up such embarrassing events?

"G-got caught under en-enchanted mistletoe with – with Cormac McLaggen!" Hermione rushed out the last two words. "Oh God, it was horrible! I didn't even know why Zabini had to go and invite him!"

Draco snickered. "Oh, I remember watching you squirm under him. I thought you had a good time, really."

"Piss off, Malfoy."

Healer Garrick clapped his hands. "Well, the both of you have passed the test. It seems that Miss Parkinson had a humorous approach to the normally mundane set of security questions. Now, please sign his Birth Certificate here. If I may ask, would you like to give him a middle name?"

Hermione nodded. "We've decided on Maximilian."

"What a wonderful choice," Healer Garrick smiled at them as he wrote down the name on the Birth Certificate. "Sign here, please."

He conjured two quills for them. They both quickly signed their names as legal guardians of Aidan Maximilian Parkinson.

"Wonderful! Now that we're done here, let me show you to your godson – or son, as you may now want to call him," he rose from his seat and walked out of the room with Draco and Hermione eagerly trailing behind the Healer to go and see their god, no – ahem, son. Damn, it was all so confusing.

After a few twist and turns through the halls, they were back at the Newborn Ward. Healer Garrick had excused himself to go into the ward and take Aidan out.

"Scared, Granger?" Draco asked her, his tone suddenly quieter than before and bore none of his usual malice.

"Honestly?" She looked up at him. Brown eyes met grey. "Yeah."

"Me too," He said. "I may not know him but I don't want him to end up like me."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Malfoy," Hermione found herself patting his shoulder awkwardly. "I mean, I'm sure you'll be a great god… um father."

Draco only grunted.

They stood in silence watching the Healer bring two nurses into the ward, one of them holding Aidan, and the other one giving him one last check-up before coming out of the ward. Healer Garrick held Aidan out for Hermione, which she held gingerly in her arms.

The very moment when she held Aidan in her arms, she knew that she was in love with him. He had the most precious features. He looked just like Pansy and he had a full head of light brown hair. She felt like all she wanted to do was protect him from the outside world, she wanted to see him grow up, she wanted to be there for him, she wanted him to go to Hogwarts and she wanted to send care packages to him, she wouldn't even care if he got sorted into Slytherin. From that single touch, Hermione knew, no matter what happened, Aidan was her present and her future; he was her little boy.

Draco listened as the Healer droned on and on about personal baby care and everything of the rot. He looked at Hermione and noticed how at peace she looked when she held Aidan in her arms. It was almost as if Aidan had recognized her as his own mother. Draco stifled a smile, he didn't want to be seen smiling at Hermione, of all people.

But he couldn't deny it; it was a beautiful thing to witness. He couldn't wait until he held Aidan in his own arms, to feel the small life he was now responsible for. Draco wanted to – no, he needed to protect him, he needed to be a good father to Aidan, and he needed to be better to Aidan than his own father was to him.

Just looking at Hermione and Aidan made his heart ache. It was a weird feeling. He felt, like perhaps, just for a moment, they were going to be a happy family. If Hermione had felt as much love for Aidan as he was starting to feel now, he was sure that at least they could try to make things work between the three of them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I hope I didn't make Draco too OOC here :\ I'm really insecure about his characterisation. Concrit is much appreciated. Thank you for reading and please review :)


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thank you for all your reviews! They meant so much to me :)

**Warning:** OOC Draco. I have a feeling this might be a permanent warning as I cannot decide if he is OOC or not. I shall leave it up to you.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own. Sadly.

* * *

><p>"Granger..."<p>

"Granger..."

"Granger!"

"What?"

"Where exactly am I going to sleep, Granger?" Draco crossed his arms and tapped his feet. "And where is Aidan going to sleep?"

"Aidan will sleep in my room for now. I've yet to venture into Pansy's room," Hermione cradled the boy in her arms. "And you can sleep on the sofa."

"In your dreams. There is no way in hell am I sleeping on the bloody sofa!" Draco cried in exasperation.

"Shut up, you idiot," Hermione hissed. "You'll wake Aidan up! And I was kidding, I set up Ginny's old room for you, remember?"

Ignoring that, Draco drawled. "Remind me again, Granger, why are we living in the Muggle part of London?"

Hermione turned around to face him. "Because Rita Skeeter is an abomination and if she decides to write about us – this thing – then we won't have any privacy at all!"

Draco shrugged. "I don't see a problem with that."

"That's because you're an attention-seeking idiot."

"Well, we're not even really in London anyways so there shouldn't be much of a problem. Rita wouldn't dare go into Muggle-land. Where are we anyways? The suburbs?" Draco's lip curled in disgust.

"Yes, Malfoy, we're in the suburbs," Hermione said exasperatedly.

"What borough are we in? I hope we're not near Wiltshire," He drawled.

"Redbridge."

"That's just as bad!"

Hermione scoffed and walked into her room, which consisted of a queen sized bed and now had a small cot at the side. She gently put Aidan down into it, cooing slightly. She looked over him and put her hand to his head and softly pushed away his tufts of light brown hair from his forehead before placing a kiss there.

Draco leaned against the doorframe looking at the both of them. He couldn't remember the last time he saw something so innocent, pure and gentle like that. Did he like it? He wasn't sure. But he knew that he never really was on the receiving end of kisses like those from his mother. Perhaps what he was feeling was jealousy.

He wanted to scoff. Him? Draco Malfoy? Jealous of a little baby boy who was already so loved? Err, perhaps.

"Granger?" He found himself speaking. "Could I see you outside?"

Hermione let go of Aidan and gave Draco a wary gaze. He held his hands up in surrender.

"Alright. What is it?"

Draco paced around the room, nervously.

"I was wondering, how are we going to go about this? We've established the fact that we need to take care of him but … _how_?" Draco turned around to face Hermione. "What happens when we go to work? Because between you and me, Granger, I don't think we should leave him alone here, since you hate the thought of elves."

Hermione gave him a look. "Malfoy, are you daft? We _can't_ leave him here! And I don't hate the thought of elves! We can take of him without the help of an elf! Really, have you never taken – never mind. We'll just send him to Molly. She'll be more than happy than to look after him."

He gaped at her. _Who was this Molly she spoke of?_

"Is there anything else? I really need to shower. It's past four and I feel sticky," Hermione crossed her arms.

Draco nodded. "I'm going to do something out of character and I want to propose a truce of sorts, Granger. Now, don't look at me like I've grown a second head. Yes, it may seem odd right now but think about it, we could at least be civil to each other while living together since we have Aidan with us now."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Civility? You're proposing _civility_? You're hilarious, Malfoy! After all these years, you, Pureblood-extraordinaire; of all people, are proposing a truce for civility! Merlin, I need to sit down."

"I'm not kidding, Granger," Draco replied. "I was just thinking about the future. It would be tough on him to see his 'parents' at each other's necks all the time. It'll scar the poor kid like how old Moldy scarred Potter. Figuratively, of course. I doubt you'd want me to give lil' Aidan a scratch on his head."

Hermione then glared at Draco which he then quickly took that as a start of a staring competition. Hermione scowled at him to which he promptly returned by sticking his tongue out at her. For a twenty-four and a twenty-three year old respectively, they were still quite childish.

Hermione was trying to figure out what Draco was playing at. He _seemed_ sincere but then again, he was a Slytherin and she knew she couldn't really trust them.

"What's the catch?" Hermione asked him.

"What?" Draco asked her back, bewildered. "There's no fish here, Granger. You must be delusional!"

"It was a Muggle phrase, Malfoy. My deepest apologies, o ferrety one, He-Who-Does-Not-Speak-Muggle," Hermione said sarcastically. "What's in it for you? What do you get out of this truce? What's your ulterior motive?"

"Nothing!" Draco cried out. "… Okay, maybe some peace of mind that you won't murder me in my sleep but other than that, you know, it might be … _nice_ –" He coughed that word out. " – to actually have an intellectually stimulating conversation with someone who can actually catch up with me, even if it has to be _you_.

"And as much as I enjoy our arguments over the littlest things, I find that it will eventually get old as your minute house has only so much to criticize and I've already pretty much covered up all your physical flaws…"

Hermione crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "As long as you help me with Aidan, it should be fine. And between the both of us, _I_ should be the one worried about getting murdered in my sleep. Contrary to popular belief, arguing with you is tiresome and redundant."

"Fine with me, but I have to ask you, what do we tell people who will eventually find out about this issue? And, you can't expect us to always stay in here; we have to go out sometime. What do we tell people if they ask?" Draco asked.

"Er… we could tell them the truth?" Hermione suggested.

"And what would that be, Granger? Two enemies, condemned living together by contract while taking care of the mutual best friend's baby?" Draco drawled lazily. He checked his nails and picked invisible lint off his clothes.

Hermione wanted to scoff. He was so annoying! One moment he would be all calm and proposing a truce, and the next, he was acting like he had wanted no part of this at all! She couldn't understand him at all.

"The truth, Malfoy, would be that we are two people raising a baby together, period," Hermione said through gritted teeth. "And now, I'm going to shower. I suggest you prepare yourself for the dinner. They're coming at six."

"It's going to be really awkward," Draco said. "I do not bode well among lions."

Rolling her eyes and walking off, "Get used to it, Malfoy. You've just entered our den."

Draco snorted and looked at the clock on Hermione's wall, above that Muggle contraption that showed moving pictures with sounds. He still had about an hour to get ready. No big deal. He moved towards the other bathroom and took a quick minute shower.

Contrary to popular belief, Draco did not like taking a long time in his shower. He preferred it quick and efficient. He was a boy, after all.

Walking out of the bathroom clad in only his towel, he heard a small shriek. Or a cry, he wasn't too sure and it was coming from Hermione's room. He had an internal conflict, should he go and check it out or should he let her deal with _it_ all by herself? And of course, he thought _it_ was an intruder.

"Shit," Draco muttered. "Wand, wand, wand!"

He stumbled around the flat looking for his wand, which he had left on his bed in his current room.

"Sod it," Draco opened Hermione's room door and searched for the so-called intruder that had made Hermione shriek. Apparently, Hermione had not shrieked, or did anything of that sort. But she was somehow, sort of … wailing in the shower.

No, she was singing. Quite off-key, in fact. He wanted to laugh.

And the only thing shrieking in that room was a crying baby.

His eyes widened as Aidan cried. His pudgy fists were flailing in the cot as he sobbed.

Draco took two tentative steps towards the cot before stopping to stare at him.

_Shit, _Draco thought. _What should I do now? Do I touch him? Do I poke him? Can I Silencio him?_

Slowly, he bent over and picked Aidan up and clumsily held him against his chest. Draco had to admit, this was a nice feeling, holding a baby.

Aidan looked up at Draco with his eyes, which had finally opened to show a pair of lovely hazel coloured eyes. He stopped crying as Draco starting to shakily rock him back and forth and gurgled instead. Draco sighed with relief.

Draco looked down at Aidan and gave him a small smile. Not his usual cold smiles, or his idiotic smirks (the ones which he fancied it made him look good) but a true smile, the one that lit up his eyes as well. He sat on the edge of Hermione's bed, still cradling Aidan and poked his cheek.

Apparently, Aidan didn't like being poked.

Draco learned that the loud way.

"Oh for Salazar's sake, shut up!" Draco hissed, cupping a hand over Aidan's mouth. The baby sobbed and stared at him with his big, tear-filled eyes.

This baby was going to be the death of him. Even with a few tears, he was getting Draco wound up his pinky finger.

"What do you want?" Draco asked softly. "Did you … you know … - " Draco lifted him up and sniffed. " – oh thank Merlin, you didn't. Then … what's wrong with you?"

Aidan looked at Draco and opened his mouth. And then he closed it. And opened it. And closed it. He licked his lips.

"Are you … hungry?" Draco asked again.

Well, of course, he couldn't expect a response from Aidan because well, Aidan could not talk. However, he just looked at Draco and started to cry again. Not as loud as before, but annoying enough.

Draco picked him up and walked to Hermione's kitchen. Still clad in only his towel, he carried Aidan with one arm and started to rummage the cabinets for the baby milk formula.

"How do I do this …" He muttered. "Do I need to use my wand?"

He suddenly remembered Hermione yelling at him while teaching him how to make Aidan's milk, the Muggle way. Draco laughed softly. They had gotten into a screaming match when he didn't want to touch the contraption used to boil the water because it had germs on it. Then she threw the hot water on him.

Draco always seemed to learn things the hard way.

He sighed and poured water into that heating mechanism. He took out a baby bottle from another cabinet near the cooking-thing and mumbled a wandless _Scourgify_ to clean it, all while handling a crying baby. Draco wondered how Muggles did this, without the help of elves.

He took the spoon provided by the baby formula milk tin and poured two spoons of powdered milk into the bottle. While waiting for the water to boil, he looked back down at Aidan and grinned.

"It's good to see you've gotten Pansy's eyes," Draco said. "They've always been a nice shade. I think you're going to grow up being spoilt, aren't you?"

Aidan gurgled at him.

"Oh yes, Daddy's – " Wow, it felt weird calling himself _Daddy_. He'd never wanted his own children to call him 'Father' like his own father had made him. It was cold and distant. " – gonna spoil you so badly. Granger's going to kill me, though. And speaking of her, she's taking bloody – oh, sorry – _really_ long in the showers, isn't she?"

The water boiler whistled. Draco put the bottle under the dispenser and poured the hot water out, three-quarters, as Hermione pounded into his head before adding the remaining quarter with room temperature water. He capped the bottle and shook it until it had (hopefully) cooled down.

Taking the bottle in one hand and Aidan in his other, he went to the sofa for some well-deserved comfort. He gently put the bottle's nib into Aidan's mouth to which he furiously sucked on it.

Draco smiled.

_CLICK_

Draco spun his head around to find Hermione standing at the door of her bedroom, only in a bathrobe, camera in hand.

His eyes narrowed. "Granger …" He slowly hissed. He would've gotten up and snatched the camera out of her hands if he didn't have that … precious little boy in his arms. Sigh.

And damn, those legs of hers...

"Looking precious there, Malfoy. I can't wait to get these developed," Hermione said with a small smirk, possibly one she'd picked up from him.

"If I wasn't preoccupied at the moment, that camera would've been blown to smithereens," Draco sneered.

Hermione rolled her eyes and walked back to her room. "It's a nice picture, Malfoy. Live with it."

Draco looked away from her and looked at Aidan instead. He was still drinking the milk although slower than before. He smirked.

And then his nose caught something.

Peaches. And what was that other thing … oranges? Was it oranges?

Draco smelled something and it was coming from behind him.

"He really does look comfortable in your arms, you know," Hermione said softly, leaning on the back of the sofa. "I'm surprised you even remembered how to make the milk."

Draco replied: "I'm not the incompetent fool that you make me out to be, Granger. I can at least make the milk without burning your kitchen."

And she smelled nice too. That scent, was that her? Was that her shampoo or her soap? And why was he interested in it anyways?

He shook those idiotic thoughts out of his head. "When are you friends coming over? Do I really have to be there?"

"Soon, and yes, you have to be there," Hermione replied.

"Can't I just stay in my room after I've nicked some food for dinner?" Draco bargained while slowly rocking the child in his arms. He had removed the bottle from Aidan's mouth and was now putting him back to sleep. He'd read that they need about sixteen hours of sleep or whatever. Why was he reading baby books anyway?

"It's not polite. But then again, you've never been the one for manners, haven't you?" Hermione said wryly. "Stop acting like a child!"

Draco sneered at her. "I am not!"

Ignoring him, Hermione walked to the front, facing Draco. She gently picked the almost-sleeping baby up and glared at Draco. "Put some clothes on, Malfoy."

Hermione smiled at Aidan while he looked at her sleepily. She only wished Draco wasn't such an asshole all the time. He looked almost human when he had Aidan in his arms. Hermione sighed, if only Draco was as nice to everyone as he was to Aidan, her life would have been easier to handle.

Draco walked back to his room and flopped on his bed. No, correction, he did not 'flop' on his bed as Malfoys did not 'flop', so to speak. He had somehow landed on his bed in an ungracious manner that would have been looked down upon by his ancestors but he certainly did not 'flop'.

He groaned as he put his hands behind his head and stared at the plain ceiling above him. Oh Merlin, it was so plain. How did Pansy ever stay here, he could not fathom.

Draco was thinking. He liked to think when he had nothing better to do.

He wondered what mess had he gotten himself into, by letting a vulnerable part of him be seen?

He had to get that damned camera away from Granger!

Who knows what she could do with that photograph?

_BLACKMAIL._ Oh, how that word hissed into his ears.

She could use it against him, when he's at his weakest point. She could use it to make him do her every bidding (not like he wasn't already...)!

She could even turn it into his room's wallpaper!

Seriously, he needed to get out of the lion's den.

Once again, Draco groaned. His sanity was at stake.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Oh, about Draco's characterisms, let's say that he has somewhat matured from his schooldays and he has let go 'some' but not all of his past prejudices.

He's still a prat though. I hope this chapter wasn't as bad as I thought it was... Thank you for reading and please review! Constructive criticism is much appreciated.

**P.S. I won't be updating as often as before. Just for your information. That's all. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Hi. Thank you for all the reviews and alerts and favourites :) Oh, this chapter is **unbeta-ed** just like the chapters before haha. I edited it myself so forgive any mistakes/ ooc-ness that you might face.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own. /sad**  
><strong>

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><p><em>October 29th<em>

_Day 26  
><em>

_The next weekend._

Hermione Granger had woken up almost twenty-seven times in the middle of the night in the past week. Sixteen times were to change Aidan's nappy. And eleven times to feed him. His cries were getting stronger and stronger by the day. There could have been the possibility of over-developed lungs.

Hermione was frustrated that she was left to deal with Aidan alone at night all the time. As Draco's duty as the 'father', he had to come in and help her sometime, right? But no. He definitely didn't want any of that. In fact, the only fatherly duties he'd ever done were feeding Aidan and putting him back to sleep; he left all the other (read: nightly) duties to her. That prat.

Thank Merlin it was the weekend (finally!), she could have a little lie-in and perhaps – she smacked her forehead and groaned in frustration.

Ginny had proposed last week that they go to a park for a little picnic in the evening for tea, today. She said that, quote: "Aidan should be exposed to the outside world, not locked up in your flat! He might end up just as pale and pasty as Malfoy! Or Voldemort for that matter!"

And because of that, Draco had whole-heartedly agreed that they should bring Aidan out. Why they agreed to go for a picnic when it was almost November, Hermione could not fathom. There wasn't going to be much sun, anyway.

Hermione was in charge of making one item, which would be her special chocolate fudge brownies that they all happened to love so much. Ginny would make (or perhaps in her case, _buy_) scones.

They were expecting Ron to bring a girl this time; he had been dating quite often lately but kept it down low on who he was dating exactly.

It had totally slipped her mind that she had to go shopping for her baking goods.

"Ugh," Hermione sat up and threw her covers off. She walked towards Aidan's cot and gave a shriek.

"MALFOY!"

No reply.

Hermione stomped into the living room and glared at Draco, who was sitting on the sofa with Aidan, once again, shirtless, clad only in his pyjama bottoms.

"Merlin, do not ever do that again!" Draco hissed. "You'll wake him up!"

"You – you – you – you _snuck_ into my room and abducted Aidan!" Hermione pointed an accusing finger at him.

He rolled his eyes. "I think I'd hardly call it _abducting_, Granger. Why, you make me seem so evil."

Draco looked at the sleeping baby on his chest and smirked at Hermione. " Besides, I think he likes me."

"Whatever! How did you get into my room?" Hermione stood feet apart, hands on her hips.

"You know that little round thing that's attached to the side of your door? That knobby thing? Yeah, I turned it, can't recall if it was clockwise or anti-clockwise though…" Draco smirked. "And voila! It opened the secret passage to your room."

"You're bloody annoying, you know that?" He could see her grinding her knuckles together as she shot another glare to him. She opened her mouth to shoot a retort but there was now a persistent knocking sound on her window.

"Pig," She mumbled as she let Ginny's tiny owl in. It squeaked and nibbled her finger. Hermione untied the letter from Pig's leg and let it go.

"Who's it from and what does it say?" Draco's asked.

Hermione skimmed through the letter.

**_Dear Hermione,_**

**_Don't forget the brownies!_**

**_You might need to make extra, I've called Luna to come and she's bringing her boyfriend. _**

**_Can you believe it? Luna's gotten herself a boyfriend and you're still single! I don't know where I've gone wrong with you, honestly. _**

**_Do you need me to set you up with one of Harry's friends from the Auror office?_**

**_By the way, Teddy's coming too. Andromeda needed someone to look after him while she went off to visit her sister (Malfoy's mum)._**

**_Ginny x_**

"It's Ginny and she was just chiding me in my lack of a boyfriend," Hermione huffed. "Also, Luna and Teddy are coming."

Draco snorted. "You know that she does have a good reason to chide you. As far as I've heard, you haven't been with a man since … Weasley and that ended almost four years ago."

"My private life is private for a reason so, shut up," Hermione said. She walked over and sat opposite him in her favourite armchair, the letter folded neatly in her hands. She saw Draco smirk at her. Her eyes then trailed to the little cherub lying on his chest, looking so much at peace, oblivious to the miniature war that was going on around him every single day.

"I thought we were supposed to be civil," Draco drawled.

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Civil people don't tell each other to shut up, you know," he smirked, once more. He then gently picked Aidan off his chest and into his arms. Draco walked over to Hermione and passed him to her before walking away to his room. "Here, he's yours now."

It was like Aidan had a radar or something, because as soon as he was out of Draco's arms and into Hermione's, he woke up and started crying. His tiny arms were waving about and his cheeks were red and soon stained with tears.

Hermione shushed him, rubbing his back and kissing his cheeks. He still cried. He wasn't like this before! Hermione had no idea what had changed, or what had caused him to cry like this when he was in her arms.

She shot a look at Draco. He was staring at her, his mouth slightly open. Draco held his arms out and took Aidan back. He quieted down immediately and looked at Draco with his big hazel eyes. Both Draco and Hermione looked shocked.

"He … he likes you better!" Hermione accused to which Draco gave her a smug smile. "That's not fair! I do all the work and – and he likes _you_ more than me!"

He shrugged. "Malfoy charm works on the babes."

_That rotten snake_, Hermione thought. _After all I've put in in raising that boy! He goes and steals him from me, right under my nose. Why does he like Malfoy better anyway? What's so good about him? He's only a snot-nosed ferret albeit the nice hair and he does look quite fit shirtless – HERMIONE'S THOUGHTS, SHUT UP. ABORT MISSION. STOP THINKING._

"Shut up, oh God, shut up," Hermione groaned, massaging her temple lightly.

Draco looked at her, right eyebrow raised. "Eh," he said, walking off to her room to put Aidan back into his cot.

_She must be crazy, talking to herself like that,_ Draco thought. _Why did she make such a big fuss about Aidan liking me better? It shouldn't be a big deal, right? And why did she go all quiet? She's planning – no, it can't be! She can't murder me in my sleep tonight! She's a Gryffindor! They're too self-righteous for that sort of thing. Hmm, but she does look quite intriguing when she's pissed. You know, like one of those flaming beauties with fire in their eyes and – SWEET SALAZAR._

Draco stopped in his tracks and gaped at Hermione, who was still sitting in that armchair of hers.

He could not have just thought of her _like that_ could he?

He groaned and walked into the shower.

.

.

.

"We're going to a supermarket, alright?" Hermione adjusted her scarf before putting on her coat. "There's a deli on the way, we can stop for a bite to eat."

Draco nodded, carrying Aidan, who sported a wooly hat, playsuit, jumper and a small scarf. Hermione carried a backpack full of Aidan's things; warm water in a thermos and milk powder for when he got hungry, a few spare nappies and a handkerchief.

"Is this a Muggle supermarket we're going to?" Draco whined. "Why can't we just go to Wiz-Mart? They have everything there too."

"We don't need to go to Wiz-Mart. That's in Diagon Alley!" Hermione huffed. She opened the door of her flat and walked out. "A little fresh air would be good for Aidan."

"… Does that mean we're _walking_?" Draco asked stupidly.

Hermione rolled her eyes and nodded. He groaned.

"Stop complaining," Hermione walked ahead of the two boys. Yes, boys. Draco was still a boy to her. "Come along now, children."

He trudged behind her, holding Aidan to his shoulder, muttering about how this was so inconvenient and embarrassing for a Malfoy to be seen walking behind a Muggle-born.

Sigh.

.

.

.

"Just stay beside me, alright? Don't go off wandering around. I don't want the both of you to get lost," Hermione said, holding a list of ingredients in her hand.

"So all I need to do is follow you like a dog?" Draco asked snidely.

"Precisely," Hermione smiled at him. "Now, help me grab that bag of walnuts off that top shelf, will you?"

"Pity you're so short, Granger," Draco smirked. With Aidan on one arm, he reached for the nuts and threw them into Hermione's shopping trolley.

"Shame, isn't it?" Hermione replied.

They walked along the aisle before stopping once more, with Hermione staring at something gleefully. Draco cocked his head to the side to see what had caught Hermione's attention. Pistachios? What the hell?

"Not on the list, Granger. You can't get it," Draco snapped his free fingers in front of Hermione's face. She glared at him, biting her bottom lip.

"I like to roast them," She said.

"I don't care," He smirked.

"Malfoy, be a dear and get me a twelve-pack of eggs," Hermione declared. "I've changed my mind. I'd rather have you wander around than be near me now."

He shrugged and smiled at Aidan. He was still asleep on his shoulder. Damn, that boy could sleep but Draco felt like his arm and shoulder were about to fall off from the lack of blood flowing through it.

Draco walked to the next aisle, looking for a sign of eggs. He could not fathom why he was even doing this.

Draco let his mind wander. He couldn't remember the last time he had ever gone for a picnic. Perhaps his subconscious had been urging him to go for a picnic – and that was why he had quickly agreed to one, although the weather wasn't the most perfect at the moment.

_What do people do at a picnic? _He thought. _Eat, talk and be merry? That would be something new. If only Blaise could come along. Then I wouldn't feel like I'm stuck with a band of cheery lions and that one loon_.

He sighed openly to realize that he had no idea where he was. He had been walking aimlessly through each aisle (supposedly to look for eggs) but did not. Draco pondered whether to ask a Muggle for directions to the eggs or not.

"Dammit, we should've just gone to Wiz-Mart! At least I know where the damned eggs are there!" He cursed under his breath. Then he decided to check if Aidan was awake or not, fearing that 'damn' would be one of his first few words.

Poke.

Draco grinned. Still asleep.

He walked through two more aisles and nearly leapt for joy when he saw three shelves specially stacked with eggs.

There were the four-pack eggs, six-pack eggs, twelve-pack eggs, and the tray of eggs all nicely arranged on the shelves.

Draco grabbed the twelve-pack and smirked. Finally his slave-moment was over. All he needed to do now was find Hermione, which was going to be much of a bother because this was a huge supermarket and Draco could not be bothered at all.

He decided to wait for her by one of the paying counters, baby in one arm, eggs in the other.

An elderly supermarket assistant had approached him, a cheery smile on her face.

"Hello there, love! What a beautiful baby you have there! Quiet one, isn't he – it is a boy, right? I've had ten grandkids myself, I'd know!" She grinned at him. Draco looked down for her name tag. Myrtle. He resisted the urge to groan. She _had_ to share the same name with that annoying ghost.

"Oh, well! I've gotten ahead of myself!" She pointed towards the tray she was holding. "Was wondering if you'd like to try one of the new samples for pasta sauce! We have marinara, bolognaise, carbonara, alfredo …"

Draco grimaced, which Myrtle took as a smile. "I've my hands full, sorry."

"No worries at all, dearie! Now, let me tell you about the pasta sauce … "

Draco smiled and politely nodded as he let Myrtle tell him about all the wonders of the herbs and spices used in making these spices. He (once again) could not fathom why someone would make such an effort in promoting something so … preserved such as that.

Even he knew that these pasta sauces all came from a jar.

"… and the tomatoes in this marinara sauce, they come from the freshest pastures of Italy…"

Draco was sure that tomatoes did _not_ grow in pastures.

"… carbonara sauce made from the freshest cream cows could ever produce…"

Draco hated carbonara. It was too rich and too _creamy_.

"… you can cook all of these with the complimentary packet of spaghetti that you will receive if you buy _all_ of the sauces…"

_Lady, I don't careeeeee._

"… get your little wifey to cook for you! You look like a big strong man with a _huge_ appetite…"

Could he just strangle her right now? He needed a plan, an escape route – Hermione. He spotted Hermione.

While Myrtle was ranting away about the benefits of pasta sauce and how lovely it would be if he could buy all ten bottles of different flavours, he caught Hermione's eye and mouthed 'HELP ME' to her.

That was the day he realized that Hermione could be quite the Slytherin. She smirked at him, one to rival his own (but not good enough, he concluded, as no one could smirk better than him. It was once said he was born with a smirk on his face, after all) and walked away.

What even – he could not – how dare she!

She could not let him be subjected to this – this _torture_ alone!

He would not let her.

"Excuse me, Myrtle. I need to call my _wife_ here for her decision," He feigned a smile. "OY HERMIONE, LOVE! COME HERE!"

Half of the shoppers stared at him, and then at the direction he was grinning at.

Hermione could feel his silver eyes boring into the back of her head. She turned around and carefully maneuvered her half-full trolley towards him.

She gave him a forced smile, her face clearly read 'What the bloody hell is wrong with you?'

Hermione slowly walked over to them and smiled softly at Aidan, who had woken up due to Draco's outburst. Or it could've been from Myrtle's rants. No one could be sure but Aidan himself.

"What is it, Draco _darling_?" Hermione said, feeling sick at his name coming out of her mouth, followed by 'darling'. Yuck.

"Ah! You must be his wifey! Well, let me tell you all about the variety of sauces we have…"

_Suffer with me, Granger. I will not let myself suffer alone,_ Draco thought.

.

.

.

"I swear to God, Malfoy, I hate you right now!" Hermione growled, carrying three shopping bags while Draco carried the other two. "You know I couldn't very well say no to her! She had spent her time talking to us about that – that blasted pasta sauce! I felt inclined to buy them!"

Draco snorted and stopped walking, putting the shopping bags down and shifting Aidan to his other arm. He was awake and looking at his 'parents' with his wide eyes. Dear Merlin, he was adorable.

"You didn't have to buy all the flavours, you know," Draco smirked, continuing his walk. "But somehow I'm sure the complimentary packet of spaghetti had enticed you somehow."

"Yes, yes I'm sure it did. And oh my God, you humiliated me right in front of everyone over there! I mean, honestly, couldn't you have called me over like a normal person? NO! You _had_ to yell and urgggh," Hermione expressed. "And now it's past noon! I've got to get baking and you better help me! Why do I even tolerate you, only Merlin knows."

Draco sent her a sneer and walked ahead of her to their flat. Hermione huffed and puffed behind him, attempting to catch up.

_He has such long legs! It's not fair! I bet they're all lean and muscly from all that Quidditch and Auror training he does – oh my God, SHUT UP HERMIONE! Stop thinking of him like that! What's that, twice in one day? Shame on you, SHAME ON YOU! _Hermione scolded herself.

She broke into a mini jog-run and caught up with Draco, who was merely brisk walking. Damn his legs.

He looked down at her and saw sweat forming on her face. "A little exercise does wonders, doesn't it, Granger?"

She nudged his arm with her shoulder, hard.

Idiot.

Now she'd have to have a pasta party.

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><p><strong>AN: **Heh I hope it was okay. Do you think I need a beta? Because I don't have one lol. Thank you for reading and please review!

**Question:** I've had this one my mind and I was wondering (before I post the next chapter up), should I do the 'disaster brownie baking scene' or should I skip to another scene TOTALLY? Because I've got two chapter 6 written up, and I don't know which one to post because I'm an indecisive cow... **_Your opinion MATTERS! _**

& no promises on regular updates BUT I will try to update once a week.

Thank you very much.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hi. I hope I'm not too late with this. I've been pretty busy on vacation lately :D I've got to admit that this chapter is not my best but I hope to compensate it with more better chapters in the future! Thank you for reading my rant.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own because I'm still poor.

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><p><em>October 29th<em>

_Later._

"I need your opinion on something, Granger," Draco mused, looking at a packet of self-raising flour.

They were in the kitchen, all the items they had gotten from the supermarket were strewn on the island counter. There were chocolate chunks, walnuts, eggs, half-melted butter, granulated sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, teaspoons, weighing scale and the baking pan. Some of the ingredients were already in a bowl. Hermione took out the electric mixer from the cabinet next to the oven and put it on the counter as well.

"What?" Hermione replied.

"How do you think this should be pronounced –" He shoved the flour into her face. " – as FLAR or FLOWER? Personally, I prefer flar, because it's a monosyllable whereas – "

"It's flower," Hermione scoffed. "Really, Malfoy. One would think you'd have nothing better to talk about."

"I don't," He retorted.

"Pity," Hermione smiled smugly, crossing her arms. "Alright, let's get stared!"

Hermione poured the sugar, butter and water into a large mixing bowl and put it under the electric mixer which did all the manual labour for her. She looked at Draco who was still absent-mindedly holding the flour in his hands.

"Pass the eggs," Hermione said. "Two of 'em."

Draco looked up from the flour, frowning. "Manners."

"Are you really going to do that now?" She turned the electric mixer off.

He nodded earnestly, a small grin soon forming on his face.

"Really?"

Another nod.

"Fine. Please?"

He smirked and threw two eggs to her.

HE THREW TWO EGGS AT HER.

HE THREW.

EGGS.

Hermione shrieked and ducked, letting the two eggs smash into the cabinet behind her.

Draco stood holding the bag of flour trying his best to maintain a straight face but he failed.

Hermione's face was absolutely hilarious, in his opinion. Her shocked, glazed expression was one to be remembered. It wasn't often he'd get to see her looking so … is there even a word … shell-shocked? Perhaps, but what he didn't expect was for her to fill her hands with the goopy egg remains and slather it all over his hair.

"My hair!" He exclaimed, letting go of the flour and touching his head. "Yuck!" his hands were now filled the same yucky, slimy texture of the egg.

"You started it, Malfoy," Hermione smirk.

_Dammit! __I__'__m __starting __to __influence __her! __Just __look __at __that __smirk, __that__'__s __how __I __do __it!_ Draco thought. _How __does __she __do __it __so __easily? __Must __be __that __inner __Slytherin __of __hers, __Merlin __dammit. __I __bet __she __stares __at __me __just __waiting __to __catch __a __glimpse __of __that __smirk__…_

"You want to play games, Granger?" Draco returned her smirk with one of his own. "Then we'll play games."

He took a scissors and hacked at the flour bag, letting the flour fall onto the floor.

Hermione looked at him in horror, anticipating the worse to come.

Draco shoved a hand into the flour bag, grabbed a fistful of hit and threw it to her direction, hitting her smack right in the face.

He choked on the flour particles flying around as he opened his mouth to laugh. He managed a snort instead, which ended up hurting because there also happened to be flour in his nose.

Oh the horror.

Hermione smiled at him, taking advantage of the situation. She put her own hands in the flour bag and wiped it all over his black shirt (the only kind he ever seems to wear, anyway). She ran her flour-covered hands all over his torso, to his shock.

Draco stood there gaping, watching the bookworm witch run her hands all over his chest. He could feel a blush forming on his face, he wasn't sure if it was because he felt alarmed at her actions or that he … actually liked the feeling of her hands. All. Over. Him.

Hermione must have realized what she'd been doing because she backed away immediately; her big brown eyes were as wide as saucers.

"I – I – I," She stammered, backing into the island counter behind her.

Draco smiled evilly, walking towards her and putting a hand over her mouth. Her distressed cries were muffled as he leaned against her, his other arm reaching for the mixing bowl on the island counter.

And bam.

He poured all the contents of the bowl onto her hair. Slathered all over her hair was the sugar, water and butter concoction.

Draco ran his dirty hand all through her hair, letting all her tresses be sullied by the baking material. He smirked while she yelled against his hand.

"Don't you ever brush your hair?" Draco grinned. "It's just so … so …. Tangly."

He pried his hand from her hair, getting stuck in the process. Okay, maybe running his hands through her hair wasn't the smartest thing to do. Now his hand was stuck in her rat's nest.

"Shit, it's stuck!"

Hermione wondered why Draco had only covered her mouth, but had failed to see that her own hands were free to do her bidding.

Draco had finally realized his mistake when Hermione's hands had sneaked away from holding onto the counter to somewhere.

Cue slap.

But it didn't come.

Instead – CRACK, SPLAT.

"Wh-what the hell?" Draco pulled his free hand away from Hermione's mouth to touch the goop on his chest. His other hand was still (unfortunately) stuck in her hair! Curse the woman, did she not know the meaning of Sleakeazy? Or at least a hairbrush?

"You deserved it!" Hermione laughed.

Draco thought she sounded quite nice when she laughed, even though it was a malicious one. He got a good look at her, she did look quite pretty when she laughed too. Her head bobbed up and down (he figured they would've bobbed more if his hand wasn't bloody stuck on it) like those little toys on the supermarket cashier earlier. Bobbly-heads or whatever.

Then there was a chime coming from the fireplace.

Draco frantically yanked his hand out of Hermione's hair, letting a yelp escape from her mouth.

"Someone's here!" Hermione hissed, slight panic evident in her voice while massaging her head. She glared at him, who lifted the left corner of his lips in a half-smile in return.

"Hermione, are you there? It's Ginny! Can I come through?" The voice called out from the living room.

"Alright," Hermione pushed past Draco, walking towards the living room to greet her friend. "Don't come into the kitchen, it's a giant mess."

Ginny chortled. "Malfoy must've done a number on you for that mess to happen. And you're a giant mess too."

Snorting, Hermione said: "Wouldn't you like to know. We haven't even started baking yet!"

The redhead rolled her eyes. "He must be bringing out your playful side if you haven't even baked those god-sent brownies."

"I hope not," Hermione smiled. "Could you help me check on Aidan, please? He hasn't cried once since we've gotten home and well … that's worrying."

"No problem," Ginny walked over to Hermione's room, winking. "I know you just want some _playtime_ with Malfoy."

Hermione glared at her, her signature 'Mama Granger' stern glare that she had perfected over the course of her two years as a prefect in Hogwarts.

"Kidding! Jeez! I'm just kidding!"

Stomping back into the kitchen, Hermione saw Draco running his hands through his own egg-filled blonde locks.

"It's sticky," He groaned. "And gross."

"You're sticky and gross," Hermione scolded. "You should take a shower, and not come back into the kitchen. Just look at this mess, Malfoy! It would've been perfect if you hadn't thrown the eggs at me."

"But you wouldn't have had fun, Granger! Don't tell me this wasn't fun? I know you love cracking eggs on my skull," Draco grinned.

"Yes, because you're so hard-headed, you know that?" Hermione folded her arms. "I'm going to take my wand and clean this place up. I suggest you scat."

Unfortunately, she stepped on the leftover egg goop that had ended up on the floor after their little fiasco on the way out.

Hermione shrieked, flailing her arms around, trying to grab something – anything(!) for balance.

Draco, ever being the gentleman, stood there laughing at the sight of Hermione Granger, ex-Gryffindor bookworm, know-it-all, prude- extraordinaire, waving her arms around the kitchen like a monkey on heroin.

That was his opinion, of course.

But as the Fates would have it, Draco was (sadly) the nearest solid thing that Hermione could grab hold of, which was something he did not expect at all. So instead of balancing Hermione, he fell on her (in shock, he would deny any other claims) with a loud thump.

"Hermione! Are you al –" Ginny rushed into the kitchen, with a wailing Aidan in her arms.

Her eyes widened in shock. The first thing she noticed was the mess.

The big, big mess.

There was flour everywhere, on the floor, on the walls.

Then there was the smell of the eggs, the raw eggs strewn all over the place, some on the cabinets, some on the counter, some on the people…

And then Ginny looked down, the crying Aidan still in her arms.

The unfortunate duo was on the floor, struggling to get up. Covered in flour, eggs, and pretty much all the ingredients, save the walnuts and chocolate chunks, was Draco on Hermione.

"Merlin, Granger, if you wanted to kiss me, you didn't have to go through all of this," Draco smiled evilly.

Hermione looked horrified with that statement, her mouth hang open and her eyes widened.

He was lying awfully close on top of her. His mischievous eyes glimmered as he grinned and dusted himself.

"Cat got you tongue?" He asked her, extending a hand to help her up.

GASP.

Was he going _soft_? He couldn't be! It was like he was extending a hand of _friendship_ to Hermione, of all people! Not that she wasn't bad or anything, she did have quite nice legs – NOT THE POINT HERE – it was the fact that she was _Granger_. Draco chided himself. It was bad enough to be on fairly friendly terms with Harry and Ron but Hermione? No, this was unacceptable.

He was too slow to retract his hand as Hermione had already taken it and pulled herself up.

_Her __hands __are __so __small__… __and __soft._ Draco thought. _Oh __dear __Merlin, __why __did __I __think __of __that? __Someone __should __put __me __on __a __stake __and __burn __me._

"No. More like Malfoy's got your tongue, eh Hermione?" Ginny laughed at the pair. Aidan, being Aidan, cried. "Seriously, I leave to go check on the baby and you do this! And I thought you didn't want to play? Hmm?"

"Shut up, Ginny! It's embarrassing enough as it is!" Hermione glared at Draco and Ginny. "I'm going to shower. Malfoy, clean the kitchen up!"

Draco shrugged as she stormed off.

"One would think she had no sense of humour," Draco said drily, looking at Ginny.

She nodded. "Do you know how to calm him down?"

"Do you have your wand? Good, _Scourgify_ me," Draco commanded.

Ginny mumbled the spell, struggling with the crying Aidan. "He cries so bloody much!"

"Give him here," He barked. "And don't use that language in front of him."

Ginny glared at him and handed Aidan to him. Draco took him and put him against his shoulder. Calmly, he rubbed Aidan's back, making shushing noises.

"What's the problem? Did he poop?" Ginny asked, taking a step back from the blonde ex-Slytherin who was scowling.

"No, he needs milk. Make some," He ordered, walking into the living room. "Three-quarters of hot water, one quarter of cool water, two scoops of milk. And he doesn't like you."

Ginny huffed, walking around the dirty kitchen. She wondered how Hermione could've been putting up with him for the past few weeks. He was infuriating and an absolute arse. If anyone would know what arses are, it would be Ginny. She had grown up with six brothers who were (almost) all arses in their weird, demented way.

She found the baby bottle in the rack of plates and cups. Ignoring Draco's advice, she charmed the hot water into the bottle then _Accio-_ing the baby milk powder. Ginny finished preparing the milk and handed it to Draco in the living room, grudgingly.

Somehow, she couldn't deny that watching Draco with Aidan was a beautiful sight. Aidan did look at ease in Draco's arms, drinking the milk like the greedy little thing he was. He had the smallest, sincerest smile and it was directed towards Aidan. Ginny could see that no matter how much Hermione complained about Draco, he had his way with Aidan.

Even a blind person could see how much Draco cared for his godson. Or Ron, because sometimes he was as blind as he was daft.

.

.

.

"Mmmm," Ron moaned as he bit into one of Hermione's brownies. He licked his lips as he slowly devoured the brown, chocolaty substance. Licking his fingers one by one after he had finished, he turned to look at Hermione. "Have I ever told you that I love your brownies?"

Hermione laughed. "You might have mentioned it a hundred times or so."

Draco stared at the group of people he was with. Harry was sitting in between Ginny and Ron. Ron had brought his date, she was that annoying ex-Gryffindor Lavender Brown. Then there was Luna, the ethereal blonde who spoke of imaginary creatures and her boyfriend, another man who spoke of creatures, Rolf.

He felt awkward. Everyone was talking and he couldn't see what was so interesting about whose brother had how many babies in the past two years.

"Err, I'm going for a walk," Draco stood up with Aidan in his arms and announced to the group awkwardly.

As Draco walked away, Harry turned to Ginny. "You said he's good with Aidan?"

Ginny nodded eagerly. "He's really good with him, right Hermione?"

Hermione smiled in agreement. "Aidan prefers Malfoy over me, sadly. I couldn't believe it at first but he only stops crying when Malfoy holds him. But Malfoy, he's another story! He frustrates me to no end. I mean, he's so annoying! I feel like he's picking fights with me, he never listens. He's like an immature boy, another one that I've to take care of."

"Well, at least we know that Aidan is in somewhat good hands, right?" Harry asked. "You know, Hermione, Malfoy's not that bad once you stop picking fights with him. I mean, he's a pretty smart bloke if you look past his normal self."

"Yeah! We've been on a few cases with him, he's actually really good at his job," Ron chipped him, leaning against Lavender. "Even Lav here agrees, don't you?"

Lavender nodded. Working as a Healer at St. Mungo's, Lavender had seen Ron, Harry and Draco quite a number of times for minor to major work-related injuries. "He's got a tough exterior but he knows how to take a hit for a partner."

"And besides that, he'll make a wonderful father," Luna said, smiling peacefully. "The way he's so comfortable with Aidan is enough proof. Aidan seems to like him a lot too. You should give him a chance to be a father, Hermione. I'm sure he just wants to break from his own father's shell."

"Perhaps," Hermione said wistfully. She knew that Draco was a good person in his own way. Seeing him with Aidan was good enough. He was a wonder with the boy. "Well, I think I'll go and find him."

Hermione stood up and walked towards the lake where she thought she saw Draco head to.

"I think they'd be good together," Luna smiled. "Don't you think so?"

.

.

.

"Mal – Draco!" Hermione called out towards the blonde figure sitting on a bench. The blonde head turned and smirked at her.

"Hello, Grang – Hermione, if that's the game we're playing," Draco said, a small smirk forming on his face.

"Oh shut up. Do you want me to take Aidan from you?" Hermione gestured, holding her arms out. "You must be tired, having him the whole day."

He shook his head slowly, staring at her cautiously. "What did you eat when I was away? Because I think my ears are starting to deceive me. I thought I heard you express concern for my wellbeing."

Hermione sat next him quite ungraciously. "No, I thought it wouldn't kill me to be nice to you."

"How wonderful! Who put that silly notion in your head?" Draco asked, a small smile tugged on his lips. He rocked Aidan gently in his arms. Aidan, who was currently awake, had grabbed Draco's index finger with his tiny fist.

"Come on, Malfoy, civility can only get us so far," Hermione said drily. "No harm in being nice once in a while, right? I'm sure you can be nice if you want to."

He shrugged and after a while said: "I guess so."

Hermione smiled and patted his shoulder. "Now, give him here! I haven't held him in ages."

Draco glared at Hermione and handed Aidan to her. Aidan looked at him with his big hazel-flecked eyes as if he was pleading Draco not to let him go. "Sorry mate, your mum wants you now."

Aidan broke into immediate tears as he landed gingerly in Hermione's arms. Hermione looked alarmed, a bit of hurt flickered in her eyes.

"Really Malfoy, how do you do it?" Hermione asked, while patting Aidan's back.

"You're not that smart if you've got to ask me these questions are you?" Draco rolled his eyes.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Hermione yelped.

Draco had grabbed Hermione's hand and held it close to his own.

"Teaching," He answered simply. "You've got to run circles on his back, not pat it."

He took her hand and traced Aidan's back with hers. Aidan's cries slowly turned into hiccups.

"Talk to him, comfort him. He doesn't like to be shushed," Draco leaned closer to Hermione. "Try it."

Hermione whispered words into Aidan's ear. "Hush now, baby, don't cry. Mummy's here. Mummy loves you. Don't cry."

She repeated those words many times like a mantra before managing to quiet Aidan down. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead before turning to Draco. She gave him a small smile of her own.

"Thank you, Malfoy," Hermione said before hesitantly placing a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"What was that for?" Draco's brow furrowed in confusion as he placed his hand to where Hermione's lips had touched. They were so _soft_, Draco had to admit. It had been a while since someone had done that to him.

"I saw you staring at me when I gave Aidan a kiss," Hermione grinned. "And Malfoy, being jealous of your own godson isn't good."

Draco scratched his head. "I'm going to ignore whatever you've just said, Granger. It scares me. And besides, I think we need to finally decide whether we're going to call him our son or godson. It will be confusing."

"- son," Hermione said.

"What?" Draco rubbed his eye.

"Son. Our son," Hermione confirmed. "No more confusion. From now on, he is our son."

Unknown to them, their picnic group were watching their every exchange.

Luna smiled. "I told you so."

"Yes, you did," Ron groaned as he tossed her a Galleon. "I don't know how you do it, but I always get poorer when I play your games."

.

.

.

Ginny leaned against her boyfriend, snuggled up under the covers of their sheets.

"That was a fun day, wasn't it?" Harry asked, putting an arm around her.

"Yes, indeed," she grinned. "Don't you think Hermione and Malfoy make great parents to Aidan?"

"Surprisingly, they do. I wouldn't have thought that Malfoy would have that in him," Harry said.

"They do look good together, don't they?" Ginny asked mischievously.

"What – Oh Gin, don't play matchmaker, please?" Harry pleaded. "You can't possibly think – "

"They fit, love," Ginny grinned. "And besides, I think the baby's doing enough matchmaking as he is."

* * *

><p><strong>AN****:**I hope that didn't suck too badly. Heh. I've been editing and editing this but I could never get it as perfect as I wanted it to be... so this is it.

Thank you for reading and please review :)

**p.s. **You might have noticed my new pen-name change. Yes. I was rosannajude but I prefer epochalypse now. I hope this will be my _**final**_ pen-name change. I'm so fickle minded. Pity to be me.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Thank you everyone for reviewing! I can't believe that I actually hit 100 reviews! It's such a big thing for me because I had never expected it to even reach 50 reviews heh. Okay I got this chapter out early because I'm going for another holiday. Yeah.

I forgot to mention that this chapter is unbeta-ed. So bear with me with any mistakes, please :-)

**Warning: I think this chapter is very OOC (so much more OOC than the previous chapters) and I thought I'd warn anyone just in case.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything you recognize as the Queen's.

* * *

><p><em>November 12th<em>

_Day 39  
><em>

_Friday, two weeks later._

The past two weeks had gone rather roughly for Hermione. She had gotten a lot more work lately and that had taken up her time and energy. Working in the Department of Law Enforcement was tiring and boring for Hermione.

It was 8 p.m. in the evening on a Friday night and Hermione was leaning over the dining table, a pile of paperwork on one side and a bowl of canned soup in front of her. She slurped her soup carelessly as she read the documents in front of her.

Hermione frowned as she read the complaint. It was idiotic. One witch was suing another witch for wearing the same dress robes at a Ministry Ball. The witch had barely a brain to begin with if she thought that Hermione would actually entertain these nonsensical tirades.

"Oh Granger, you're back? Is there dinner?" Draco bellowed as he Apparated into the flat. He walked over to Hermione and took a seat facing her. He wiggled his fingers in front of her, blocking her view of the paperwork.

"Granger?" Draco asked, getting slightly annoyed at being ignored.

Hermione pushed the remainder of her soup towards him. "I'm busy tonight. Find your own dinner."

Draco groaned and then he snatched the document Hermione was holding. "What is this rubbish – ohhh. Well, this is stupid."

"Indeed it is, now give it back," Hermione said, tapping her quill on the table. "It's stupid and ridiculous but it's work."

"What are you going to do about it?" Draco asked. "The case I mean – don't look at me like a gaping nitwit."

"For one, I would really like it if I could just take my wand and shred these documents into tiny little pieces but I can't. I think I'd just let both the witches off with a warning, making sure they don't give me nonsense like this ever again," Hermione said angrily, grabbing the document back from Draco.

"Why do you do this?" Draco had his elbows propped on the table, his hands on his cheeks as he frowned at her.

"Why do I do what?" Hermione asked, slightly exasperated.

"Your job," Draco started to explain.

"I have to work, you know," She said snidely.

"But here's the thing, you look like you bloody well hate it, no – don't say anything, Granger, your face tells me everything. You're annoyed with your job. You're annoyed with the idiots that give you your job. You look tired as hell when you come back from work every day."

"Don't start, Malfoy, please," Hermione gripped her quill tightly.

"Come on! It may have just barely been a month living with you, Granger, but honestly, you look like shit on weekdays. Don't deny it. You don't even have time for Aidan when you come home, and then you ask me why he likes me so much. To be frank, your job is a _life-sucker_."

"Malfoy, I really don't want to hear this right now."

"I don't even know why you're working in the DLE. It's all paperwork with no future. I thought you were better than all of this, Granger," Draco said. "I am disappointed in you."

Hermione glared at him. "Honestly, what brought this on? Was it that I didn't make dinner? Because we never agreed for me to –"

"No! It's because your job is fucking ridiculous! Just tell the first witch that she needs a new designer and tell the second witch to get some new fashion sense. I'm going out for dinner with Aidan since you're too busy for him," Draco snarled.

"What do you mean I'm too busy for him? I'm trying my hardest – "

"You work late every single day! And today, you're home early but what do you do? You bring your work home with you! I went to the Burrow today to pick Aidan up but they told me you had him. I thought perhaps you wanted to spend time with him but instead you come back and _work_!"

"Some people have to work, you know. I can't be like you – "

"Like me? For the past two weeks, I've been taking him home and feeding him and taking care of him! All you do are the night duties, like check if he'd shat in his diapers or not. You don't actually take the time to play with him or talk to him! And you wonder why he likes me better than you," Draco hissed and walked into his room, slamming the door in the process.

Hermione sighed and put her face in her hands. She hated to admit this, but Draco was right. She had started working in the Department of Law Enforcement with high hopes of being a well-known magical attorney. She had such ideals; to be fair to everyone, to defend the weak and uphold the honour of the accused.

She had been having some thoughts in her head for a while now.

_Is my job really as bad as he makes it out to be?_

_Yes! _

_Do I really look that terrible when I come home from work? _

_Yes! _

_Do I – do I really not have time for Aidan?_

_YES!_

_Is that why he always seems so close to Malfoy?_

**_YES!_**

_Dammit, Hermione, you need to get a grip. For the first week, you were great, you were attentive and loving and caring – then you stopped. Why did you stop, Hermione?_

_Because I – I got caught up with work again._

_You need to stop neglecting your _son_, Hermione! He is all you have, YOU ARE ALL HE HAS! You won't let him be Malfoy's boy, would you? Work is good, but your family should be your priority right now. If you don't learn it soon, you're going to lose something._

Hermione put her head in her hands as she let her thoughts take over her. The angel and devil on her shoulder were arguing mercilessly on her parenting skills. But no matter what they said, no matter how sharp the devil's tongue was nor how comforting the angel's words were, Hermione felt for the first time that she was a failure as a parent.

Draco lay on his bed, looking at the plain ceiling. He knew he was harsh on her. He had practically spat in her face the fact that she was a useless workaholic mother that even her child did not want.

_Why did I do it?_ He asked himself. _Wouldn't it have been better for her to just keep working? Then at least I could keep Aidan all to myself._

_No, then it'll just be like my parents all over again but with the gender-roles reversed. _Sigh._ Granger needs to stop working herself so hard. Her big bushy head is getting bushier by the day._

_Why did I tell her I was disappointed in her? Was it because she had scored all O's on her N.E.W.T.S when she retook her 7th year? Was it because I know that she could do so much better than just be another DLE attorney?_

_Yes._

_The Granger I know would not have simply settled for a job that dealt with asinine cases like those._

_But mostly, why do I care?_

Draco groaned and sat up. His stomach was starting to make noises. He grabbed his clothes from the wardrobe and walked to the shower. After a quick shower, he messily dried his hair while putting on a dark green shirt and a pair of black trousers. He walked into the hall again, making his way to Hermione's room to get Aidan.

What he didn't expect to see was Hermione holding onto Aidan as hard as she could while sitting on her bed. What he didn't expect to see were her red eyes and fresh tears that were starting to form when she looked up to face him at the doorway.

"Fuck," He whispered.

"You're right," Hermione said, taking Aidan's hand in her own.

"What?" He asked, slightly puzzled. He took a few tentative steps towards her, stopping in front of her.

"Nothing," She replied, softer than earlier.

"I didn't mean to make you cry, Granger," Draco said, his head hanging down awkwardly.

"Of course, you didn't, just like all those years back in school where you didn't mean to make me cry either," Hermione replied apathetically, her attention now given to Aidan. "I hate to repeat it but you are right."

"Shit, I didn't know you'd take it this way – dammit, Granger," Draco said weakly. "Just, please stop. Please stop crying."

Draco, like most men, was never really good around crying girls. He found it awkward because he didn't know what to do apart from just stand there and watch them cry. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to pat her back or hug her. If memory served him correctly, after watching those Muggle television shows, the men normally kissed the tears away.

But he couldn't do that! She was Hermione Granger, after all!

Doing the next best thing, he sat next to Hermione and put a hand on her shoulder. "Please don't cry, Granger."

"You were right about everything. I hate my job. I suck as a mother. I'm a terrible person. I devote my time to something I don't even like doing while I neglect my son! What kind of person am I? I am nothing more than a robot if I keep on going like this!" Hermione cried out.

Crying and breaking down weren't something that Hermione would often do. She was a strong person; she stood by her heart and controlled her emotions. Today, it was different. She had so many emotions coming out at once; her dam had unleashed all the horrors within.

Sobbing on the shoulder of her once-enemy while holding a baby wasn't the wisest thing to do especially when the baby was crying himself.

"I c-can't even h-h-hold him without h-him crying!" Hermione sniffed, clutching at Aidan who was now wailing. "He d-d-doesn't even want me!"

Draco awkwardly extended his arm to hold her. "He – you should spend more time with him, you know? He needs to feel comfortable with you…"

She nodded slowly, blinking back her tears.

"Let's just go out for dinner, alright? That ruddy bowl of soup was a pathetic excuse for a meal," Draco said, a smirk graced his lips as he looked at Hermione and Aidan.

Hermione looked up at him, giving him a weak smile.

Draco let his arm fall back down as he stood up. "We'll leave in five minutes."

He extended both his arms and picked Aidan up. "And get dressed; you look like a downright mess."

.

.

.

"Table for – err, Granger, are we considered two or three?" Draco asked Hermione, who was carrying Aidan. She had finally gotten him to quiet down before they headed out to Muggle London.

"Two," Hermione pushed Aidan's light brown hair back.

The waitress gave them a tight smile before leading them to a booth seat near the back of the restaurant.

Draco scowled as he saw where they were headed to. "They can't possibly seat us at the very back, can they?" He whispered in her ear.

Hermione could feel the shivers tingling down her spine as he softly whispered to her. "Besides, I don't understand why you keep on insisting we eat in a Muggle restaurant."

"Privacy, Malfoy. I don't want Aidan exposed to the paparazzi of the Wizarding world so early in his life," Hermione muttered back, scooting into the booth seat. Draco sat opposite her.

"What's good to eat here?" Draco, muttering to himself; taking the menu from the table and flipped through it. "I don't think they can go wrong with steak and chips, right?"

They both ordered their dinner; Hermione had grilled salmon and sautéed vegetables while Draco ended up ordering the steak and chips. Hermione sat Aidan on her lap while she quietly ate her dinner, occasionally stopping to feed him his milk.

Hermione was still unsure whether she could feed him baby cereal or not, so she just settled for milk.

It was a quiet dinner, filled with awkward silence.

Hermione wouldn't even look up at Draco even though she could feel his gaze on her. Her little breakdown earlier was embarrassing enough and she couldn't take his snide remarks for today. Even though he did not have the intention of hurting her, he did a damn well good job of pointing out her flaws.

And Hermione just couldn't face him right now.

Draco picked at his chips with his fork as he thought of something to say. Should he say something comforting? He didn't even know if she was still upset from before. He slowly looked up to study her. She was smiling softly at Aidan as she put a piece of salmon into her mouth.

He sighed as he chewed his steak.

He was only twenty-three for Slytherin's sake! Was it odd for him to contemplate on his life while eating dinner in a random Muggle restaurant with his childhood enemy and their godson?

Perhaps.

But that was all that Draco was doing.

When he looked at Aidan, he could see his future. Draco could see himself sitting in his study, smoking a pipe or a cigar perhaps, laughing at Aidan's letters detailing his days at Hogwarts. Aidan was _obviously_ going to be in Slytherin, without a doubt; even though he currently had a Gryffindor for a mother.

Somehow, Draco could only see himself. He could not picture any other children around him or even a wife. Was that all he was going to be? A lonely man with a son he had to _share_?

What was he coming to? What was he thinking?

Perhaps this was all he was bound to have: godson whom he'd already loved as if he was his own flesh and blood.

_STOP BEING SO PESSIMISTIC, DRACO! _He thought. _You're a goddamn Malfoy, for crying out loud! We do not wallow in self-pity. We make our way in life, we make things ours! _

Poking at the remainders of his chips, his thoughts were interrupted by a small cry. Draco looked up and saw Hermione trying to put Aidan back to sleep, rubbing his back and murmuring her mantra; just like how he taught her.

It would have been a perfectly cheesy and cliché thing to say that Draco knew in all his heart that that was what he wanted; that was his present and future.

But after all, he was still Draco 'The King of Denial' Malfoy.

"Are … are you done?" Hermione asked Draco softly after she had soothed Aidan. "With your meal I mean. It's getting late and …"

Draco nodded, wiping his mouth with his napkin and taking a sip of his water. "Would you care for desert?"

She fiddled with the sleeve of Aidan's jumper, deep in thought before replying a soft 'yes'.

"Wait!" Hermione said, as Draco put his hand up to call the waitress. "Just ask for the bill. I… I want to go somewhere else."

Draco nodded and fished out some Muggle pounds from his wallet and handed them to the waitress, who swiftly returned with the change.

As they walked out, he offered to carry Aidan, who was now sleeping soundly in her arms. Hermione gave him a small smile before handing him over.

"I need to ask you something. I've been thinking about it over dinner and – and I want – no, I _need_ to know whether … one day … maybe a few years from now or something, are you going to – shit, this is hard," Hermione rambled on, tightening the scarf around her neck.

"What is it?" Draco asked, increasing his grip on Aidan who was sleeping on his shoulder.

"Are you – will you – have you thought about what we're going to do when Aidan grows up? Are you going to file in for sole custody?" Hermione said softly, holding her hands together. "Seeing as you think I'm such a bad mother and all…"

"Are you crazy, Granger?" Draco looked at her incredulously. "I made a promise to Pansy and I'm going to keep it. If she thinks you're good enough to raise her son as well as I am, so be it. I'm not going to subject Aidan to the experience of coming from a broken home."

"We're pretty broken enough, you know," Hermione mumbled back, turning left at a corner and walking into a small ice cream parlour.

"You can't break something that was never whole," He said, following her in.

Hermione shrugged and walked to the counter, ordering a scoop of mint ice cream on a cone.

Draco asked for a scoop of strawberry, balancing his wallet, the cone and Aidan all at once.

They walked out slowly, licking their ice cream before they were stopped by what seemed to be a random stranger.

"Hermione? Is that you?" A shrill voice rang through the night.

Draco turned his head to the side and looked at Hermione. She had a slightly pained expression on her face, like she wasn't at all interested in looking at this person.

"Gertrude," Hermione nodded politely. "How … nice to see you here."

"Christ! Is that the way you treat your cousin?" Gertrude replied with a laugh.

Draco felt like digging his eardrums. He stood there awkwardly licking his ice cream while Hermione and Gertrude had a glare-down. He felt his eyes move up and down, judging Gertrude's appearance and dressing.

She had long straight brown hair and was slightly taller than Hermione. Her clothes looked like Muggle designer clothes, nothing in comparison to Hermione's clothes. Her upturned nose was like Pansy's but somehow, Draco felt annoyed in her presence. It was definitely her voice.

"Well," Gertrude said, clapping her gloved hands together. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your handsome friend?"

"Gertrude, this is Draco. Draco, Gertrude," Hermione took a small step closer towards Draco.

"Pleasure's all mine," Gertrude gave him a big smile. "Oh, is that your son, Draco? He looks adorable!"

"You can't even see his face," Draco muttered. "I think we should go, Hermione. We have to put Aidan to bed."

Hermione nodded. "I'm sorry, Gertrude, but we must go."

Gertrude leaned in and air-kissed Hermione's cheeks. "See you around, love. You should come for my mum's Sunday brunches. We miss you so much! You can bring your friend and his son if you want to."

"He's not my friend," Hermione said.

"Oh, I must've been –" Gertrude started before she was rudely interrupted by Hermione.

"He's my boyfriend and that is our son," Hermione said, before walking off. "It was great seeing you too."

Gertrude stood there watching Hermione walk away with Draco. She blinked a few times, making sure that what she saw was correct. Her ugly cousin had gotten herself a fit boyfriend and a baby? Impossible! She shook her head and walked away. She needed to stay away from the alcohol.

.

.

.

"Boyfriend, Granger?" Draco asked while Hermione fiddled with the flat keys.

"I hate her. She would tease me about my lack of boyfriends all the time. Don't let it get into your head, Malfoy. You just happened to be there at the right time," Hermione opened the door.

Draco walked into the apartment and put Aidan in his crib. He then sat down on the sofa.

"I want to get a few things cleared up with you, Granger. I don't know what's going to happen when Aidan grows up, or how are we going to sort him out before he goes to Hogwarts. It's too soon to think about these custody things and I don't really want to think about it," Draco crossed his legs.

"But we _have_ to think of it, don't we?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, but not right now. Now, he needs the both of us to at least give him a stable family background," Draco replied.

"I thought we agreed that we weren't the most stable family anyone could have," Hermione snorted, pulling her legs up and hugging her knees.

"We're not. But we're sort of trying, right?" He gave her a small smile. "Don't worry so much. Just spend more time with him."

"You really love him, don't you?" She asked softly.

He gave her a small nod.

"I think… I think I might come home earlier now and you know, spend time with him and all," Hermione said.

"That's a good start," Draco muttered, turning his head to the right to face hers. Staring into her eyes, he wondered how he could not have noticed it before. Some might call her eyes plain but he saw them as liquid pools of chocolate, warm and brown. And he liked it.

She sighed and scooted closer to him. "We're really messed up, aren't we?"

Hermione stared at his side profile. He had a strong jaw, although not as pointed as it was before. His long straight nose was beautiful, like it had been carved to perfectly form his face. And his eyes, she had always thought his eyes were steely and cold all the time. But at times like these, she saw that they were just like molten silver.

"Yeah, we are," Draco replied.

The sat in silence, watching the fire in the fireplace crackle. The warmth from the fire heated them both up.

"I don't want to be messed up anymore," He mumbled, running a hand through his un-gelled hair.

"Neither do I," She said.

More silence.

"Isn't it strange, Granger? How we can fight all the time but a day when I don't argue with you, it just doesn't feel complete?" Draco leaned his head back on the sofa.

"It is. I think we've gotten so used to insulting and arguing that it's become a norm to us," She whispered back. "Quarreling and bickering, that's just _us_."

"You're right. After all, a day without arguing with you – fuck, this sounds weird but … you know, that day's just no good," Draco stood up and gave her a forlorn look before walking to his room. "Goodnight, Granger."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** It wasn't too bad, I hope... And yeah I kind of used a quote from HIMYM but ... yeah. I'm just rambling right now.

I guess what I wanted to do was portray Draco as a caring father figure to Aidan, who was somewhat annoyed at the fact that Hermione was always working all the time. I think parenthood can really change a person and it has somehow changed Draco.

Constructive criticism is much appreciated (actually anything that can help me improve my writing/characterisation is very much loved) so please, anything you want to point out, go ahead.

Thank you for reading and please review!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I'd like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed/alerted/favourited! I'm so sorry for the late update (what was it, two weeks?). I have been busy. Quite. Maybe. Not really. I've been _laz_y_. _Heh.

**Warning: This (to me) feels like a filler chapter and it's also shorter than usual.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

><p><em>November 17th<em>

_Day 43_

_Thursday_

"… And Aidan, that's why you shouldn't be mean to other people, and always share what you have!" Hermione smiled as she closed the storybook she had been holding. Aidan gave her a toothy grin as he looked up to her. Draco stepped out of his bedroom and looked at Hermione, who was sitting on the living room floor with Aidan.

"Are you trying to condition him into being a Gryffindor, Granger? Because somehow I doubt that's going to work," Draco smirked as he walked over to the two. Aidan took one look at Draco and held his hands up. "Kid knows his daddy."

Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up, balancing herself on the sofa behind her.

Draco held Aidan at arm's breadth from him and dangled him. The baby's laugh was infectious and soon Draco himself was seen smiling.

"Oh by the way, Granger," Draco pulled Aidan back into his grip. "Your kontuper thing was making an annoying beeping noise."

"Kontuper? Oh! You mean _computer_," Hermione said, rising from her seat. "It must be an email."

Draco snorted. _Stupid contraptions_.

She walked past Draco and took a seat at her computer table and clicked open the email.

_Dearest Hermione,_

_I know this email is long overdue but your father and I have been very busy lately with our practice. These Australians have such a different accent from ours; it's quite difficult to pick up! _

_We're really sorry to hear about your friend Pansy. It's such a shame to have her leave like that, she was wonderful when we came for a visit last time._

_I suppose that important thing you wanted to tell me from that previous email was that you had gotten a boyfriend? Your Aunt Alice said that Gertrude saw you with a handsome young man and a baby out in London!_

_I know this is a very short email seeing as your previous one was rather long. _

_Hermione dear, you must know that your father and I love you very much and if you have already taken the next step with this boyfriend of yours (having his child), we can only try to understand your situation. I hope we did not jump to conclusions and your father and I must, must absolutely must meet your boyfriend. We are coming back for Christmas._

_Your loving mother x_

Hermione groaned. It was just like her cousin to go and tell everyone about her private life. What made matters worse was that her mother had actually thought she had had an illegitimate child!

She furiously typed her email to her mother, clearing up a truckload of facts. Hermione had made sure that she had clearly stated that Aidan was _Pansy__'__s_ son not hers. And Draco was in fact absolutely _not_ her boyfriend, because she wouldn't date that prat.

No matter how … slightly … handsome he was.

No.

Hermione clicked the send button and walked back to the living room area. Draco was sitting with Aidan on the floor playing peek-a-boo.

_You know, it is quite adorable when Malfoy plays with Aidan. He looks like a real person, not cold or mean. _Hermione sighed. _I have been trying to be better at this thing, but Malfoy, he just looks like a damn natural! And he looked like he didn't have a clue on what to do when we brought Aidan home. Look at us now. Ha._

"Are you going to stare at me all day or are you going to come down here and play with him yourself?" Draco's snarky comment tore Hermione away from her thoughts.

She sent him a glare before sitting down opposite him, with Aidan in the middle of the two.

"Tickle him," Draco said, sounding bored.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Tickle him, Granger, at his sides," He said again.

"Why?" She asked again.

"Merlin, you ask so many questions! Just tickle him and you'll know why," He rolled his eyes.

Aidan looked up at Hermione with his big hazel eyes and opened his mouth to show her his gummy smile.

"Alright," She said.

Hermione picked Aidan up and put him on her lap. After balancing him, she brought her long fingers to his sides and tickled the baby's ribs.

Aidan let out a small gurgle while his face was scrunched up like he had swallowed a lemon, but that was his laughing face. Draco claimed he'd gotten it from Pansy.

His small cries of laughter made Hermione smile. She had never heard a laugh so beautiful as this one before.

_Is __this__ what__ motherhood__ feels __like?_ She wondered.

"Granger, I know this must be difficult for you and all…" Draco mumbled, running a hand through his pale blonde hair. "… but do you err... think you could take care of Aidan by yourself next week?"

"Eh?" She narrowed her brown eyes at him. "Why?"

Slowly, "I'm going away for work. To Zurich. It's in Switzerland–"

"I know where Zurich is, Malfoy," Hermione said stonily.

"Yeah, great. Well, this will give you an opportunity to be with Aidan for a bit," Draco said. "Don't be too smart with him, he's still a baby."

Ignoring that, "When are you leaving?"

"First thing Monday morning," He drawled. "I can send Aidan to Weasley's before I leave."

"No!" Hermione said loudly, raising her hand up. "I'll take him, alright?"

He nodded, pursing his lips together as if he was stopping himself from blurting out unwanted words.

"Are Ron and Harry going to Zurich too?" Hermione asked, sitting Aidan in her lap.

He shook his head. "Not Weasley, only Potter. Is there anything else? Because if there isn't, I want to go to –"

Draco was interrupted by Ginny's head popping through the fireplace.

"Hermione! Oh, hello Malfoy. Can Harry and I come through, we need to ask the both of you something," Ginny said, grinning.

Hermione looked at Draco, who simply shrugged. "Alright, come over."

"Malfoy, could you take Aidan and give him his milk or something?" Hermione asked Draco who rolled his eyes and took Aidan from her.

"Wait, maybe Malfoy would like to hear this as well, we need his opinion too," Harry said, adjusting his glasses nervously.

"What is this? Potter, you're actually asking for my opinion on something? That is certainly something new," Draco said, his lips curving upwards into a smirk.

"Don't get all cocky," Harry sat down on the living room sofa, taking Ginny down next to him.

"We were wondering if you could help us take care of Teddy on Sunday," Ginny said. "Andromeda's going to France with some of her friends that weekend."

"And what about you?" Draco asked. "Won't _you_ be there?"

"I wasn't done, Malfoy," Ginny said with a tone harsher than normal. She wasn't fond of being interrupted. "Harry and I are busy, we've been pre-booked by McGonagall to give a speech for 7th Years who are interested to become Aurors."

Hermione cocked and eyebrow. "Harry, I understand. But you, Gin? You're not an Auror…"

"Can't you just bring him with you to Hogwarts?" Draco drawled, rubbing Aidan's back. He had just started to cry. "Merlin, this kid."

Draco quietly sneaked into the kitchen to make Aidan his milk.

"Please, Hermione, please?" Ginny pleaded. "I know this is last minute but we thought you were the best option. We can't send him to Mum's anymore! He gave them a lot of trouble the last time he was there."

Hermione sighed. "Why do you think I'm the best option?"

"Because you're smart and you definitely have a way with children?" Harry shrugged, a nervous smile formed on his face.

"Harry, please. I'm rubbish with children!" Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"You're the one with the firm iron grip, Hermione!" Harry begged, clasping his hands together as if in prayer.

"Fine, I'll try and help, alright? I mean, how bad can Teddy be?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You'll see," Harry said with a cryptic smile.

"He's not all that bad, you know! Just a bit hyperactive at times!" Ginny attempted to convince Hermione further.

"What time does he get here and when do we return him?" Draco called out from the kitchen. "I have a Quidditch game on Sunday!"

"You do?" Hermione yelled. "And were you going to tell me about this?"

Draco walked out of the kitchen, putting the bottle into Aidan's mouth. "Well, I wouldn't have had a problem telling you before I was leaving but then now we have an extra kid in the house, I had to tell you in advance now, right?"

"You're –" Hermione said before getting cut off by Harry.

"Great! Hermione, now you can bring the kids to the – wherever Malfoy's playing Quidditch at," Harry clapped his hands triumphantly.

"Thank you, Hermione, really," Ginny got up and engulfed Hermione in a hug. Before she pulled away, she whispered into Hermione's ear. "I know you hate him but you've got to admit that Malfoy looks like a really good dad."

Hermione could only nod in agreement when the red-head pulled away. "He is, Gin. As much as I hate to admit it, he is."

"- And Malfoy, don't forget to pack your _extra_ things for Zurich, alright?" Harry said to the blonde man before taking Ginny's hand and going into the fireplace.

As the green flames died out, Draco turned to Hermione. "Make sure he finishes the bottle." And he thrust Aidan into her arms, bottle and all.

"Where are you going? Wait!" Hermione yelled at Draco's retreating figure. "I have to tell you something."

He stopped in his tracks and turned around, his arms crossed on his torso. "What is it?"

"My parents are coming to England for Christmas and they want to meet you and Aidan," She said. At Draco's confused expression, she continued. "My wretched cousin told my parents all about you. Now they think Aidan is my _real_ son."

"Oh," He said simply. "Alright then."

"… is that all you're going to say? You're not going to passionately object about having dinner with a bunch of Muggles, are you?" Hermione asked, slightly confused at his acceptance. "I mean, I know you've toned down on the Mudblood insults but these are my parents –"

"Look, the Mudblood insults were childish of me but these people, even though they're Muggles, they are your parents. I think I've come to terms with myself about Muggles, yeah," He said stiffly. "I'm fine if you want to meet up with them, alright?"

"Are you really sure?" Hermione asked, fiddling with the hem of her jumper. "Don't you have plans or something?"

"No, Granger, I don't. I'll join you for your Muggle dinner but please, can you let me sleep? I have an important case meeting tomorrow," Draco uncrossed his arms and stuffed them into his pockets.

"And I don't have any plans because all my Christmas plans were _always _organized by Pansy," Draco said softly to himself as he turned away.

Hermione looked down at the now sleeping baby as her sharp ears picked up Draco's last words. She sighed internally. He was always surprising her with those little (hard to see and hard to find) sensitive bits of him.

.

.

.

_November 19th _

_Day 45_

_Saturday_

Lounging on the sofa, two men were drinking Butterbeer right out of their own bottles.

"How's Granger been treating you these days, mate?" Blaise tipped the bottle of warm liquid down his throat. "It's been ages since you came over to my place for a chat."

"She's …" Draco paused in thought. How was Hermione to him? He gave a little shrug. "She's okay, I suppose. It's amusing to annoy her sometimes, or to put her in embarrassing situations. She used to be working all the time and she'd hardly ever spend time with Aidan – "

"Whoa whoa whoa, who's Aidan again?" Blaise asked, propping himself on one elbow. "Is that her boyfriend?"

"Blaise, you idiot. Aidan is Pansy's son, remember?" Draco glared at Blaise.

"Oh, sorry," Blaise replied sheepishly. "Continue?"

Snorting, Draco continued. "She'd left all the dad duties to me; I mean I think I was the only one playing with him and feeding him and all that. All she had to do was check if he took a shit or not. No big deal for her, eh?"

"Then last week, she came back home –"

"Wait! When did Granger's place become _home_?" Blaise asked. "I know this was just an agreement but really, when did you think of it as home?"

"Blaise, don't put words into my mouth. And I wasn't finished yet," Draco sat up, frustrated at his best friend. "Yeah, so she came back with a pile of documents for her work – she's in the DLE – and she comes up with the shittiest excuses that she can't take care of Aidan and all."

"So what did you do?" Blaise put his bottle of Butterbeer down.

"I kind of told her off…" Draco said, running a hand through his hair. "… And also maybe I made her cry."

"You made her cry?" Blaise asked Draco. "You made her _cry_? You made _Hermione __Granger_ cry? Wow, that must have been one fucked up evening."

"Trust me, it was," Draco groaned. "I even apologized and took her out for dinner."

"Eh, you took her out for dinner right after you apologized?" Blaise questioned him.

"Yes. Merlin, are you deaf today?" Draco raised his hands in annoyance. "You keep repeating what I say!"

"Do you like Granger?" Blaise interrogated.

"What?" Draco replied. "What the hell –"

"Because normal men wouldn't bring their childhood enemies out for dinner right after they'd apologized to them, you know," Blaise said. "So, do you like her or something?"

"No! Come on, Blaise, I felt guilty, alright?" Draco replied, taking a swig of Butterbeer from his bottle. "Why are we even drinking this stuff? It's for children!"

"Don't change the subject, Draco. The way you talked about her earlier, you may not like her now but you look like you're bloody well on the way," Blaise shrugged. "You can't deny that the way you complained about her … you're like a married couple."

"Don't fuck with me, Blaise," Draco stood up, knocking over his bottle which he had put on the floor. "Seriously, don't."

"I don't want to argue with you. You're as stubborn as an ox," Blaise sighed and stood up as well. "It's getting late, maybe you should go back."

"It's only … shit, it's seven. Yeah, I should go," Draco walked over to Blaise's armchair and picked up his cloak. "It's been great catching up with you. See you Sunday."

Blaise nodded as Draco stepped into the fireplace. "See you too."

.

.

.

Draco entered Hermione's flat to find it deathly quiet. It was unusual as Hermione would normally turn on the hall lights as soon as it got dark. Since it was winter, it got dark at five.

"Granger?" He called out, dusting ash from his cloak.

Draco took his wand and lit up the lights. Slowly, he walked around the flat.

He felt uneasy. It didn't feel like there was anything wrong but he still felt odd.

Draco checked the kitchen and found it empty, clean and no sign of struggle.

In fact, the whole flat had no sign of struggle.

_Did she go out without telling me? It's getting weird, and it's late. Where's Aidan?_ Draco thought as he walked to Hermione's room.

He opened the door slightly and peeked inside. There, in the crib, lay Aidan, still sleeping. Draco sighed in relief and walked towards him.

"Granger?" He called out again, as he picked up Aidan. "Granger, where are you?"

Okay, now Draco was getting slightly worried. He quickened his pace and walked out of Hermione's room. Then he saw it.

Pansy's room door was slightly ajar.

How could he not have seen it before, he chided himself. Carrying Aidan, he pushed the door open, fully with his shoulder to find Hermione sitting on the floor, the bed behind her.

Strewn around her were photographs, clothes, books and letters.

"What are you doing, Granger?" Draco asked harshly. "You just left Aidan on his own! It must have been more than three hours already since I left! What were you thinking?"

Hermione looked up at him, her eyes were red and her cheeks were tear-stained. She stifled a sob as she loosened her grip on a photograph of Pansy, Ginny and her.

"I-I-I-I was cleaning," She said softly. "I thought I was ready to do it, I thought I was ready to face it."

Draco stood there awkwardly, a grimace formed on his face. _Shit_. He had no idea what to do. He didn't want to think he had left her here, to see Pansy's things all by herself. Some part of him wanted to be there to sort out her things with Hermione.

When he looked at Hermione, he could see fresh tears starting to form in her eyes. She tried to form words, Draco could see her in thought as she opened and closed her mouth. Uncomfortably, he kneeled down facing her, careful not to drop Aidan.

"Um, Granger," He said uneasily. "Could you err … stop crying?"

She looked up at him, her lower lip was quivering. "I just miss her so much. And when you mentioned her in t-the hallway the other day, I-I couldn't stop thinking about her."

"I miss her too, you know," He said quietly. "You didn't have to do this yourself. I would have helped."

Hermione let out a sob. "Would you have really?"

"Granger, Pansy was my best friend, of course I would," He replied.

She let out an even bigger sob as her tears were now streaming down her face.

Draco's thoughts were at a standstill. Normally, when his mother cried, he would just walk away to let her cry in peace. When Pansy used to cry, he would let her cry on him. He still wasn't sure what kind of crier Hermione was, even though she had cried on his shoulder the last time.

Slowly, he just reached out and patted her shoulder continuously.

Draco was never any good with crying women.

He didn't know what to expect. But what he didn't expect was Hermione to suddenly pull him into a hug and cry on his chest.

"Thank you, Malfoy," She whispered in between sobs.

Draco thought of two things right now. One, he was wondering how Aidan was doing, whether he felt squashed being in the middle of the two grownups. Two, he was going to kill Blaise for putting those thoughts into his head.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** And as usual, I will ask you how you thought of it and hoping it wasn't too bad. I think I'm getting predictable. I hope to update soon. I've always wondered if you want me to reply to your reviews heh. If you do, tell me, then I shall, because I want to thank everyone on a personal note but I don't know if I can do it in the chapter itself.

Constructive criticism is much appreciated!

On a personal note, SACE results will be out in a week, I guess. Yuck.

Thank you for reading and please review!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Hello everyone! I'd like to thank everyone who had reviewed/favourited/alerted the last chapter.

I've got to say that this is one of my longest chapters to date (it's still tiny compared to other fics) haha. Well, I've got to say that I worked hard on this and I hope it's worthy of your reviews. You know that people say 'self-praise is no praise'? So I'm hoping you'd do the praising for me. Wow, I'm being brazen today haha.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY BEAUTIFUL READERS.

All I want under my (non-existant) tree is Tom Felton.

And here's a special thanks to fredaintdead, who had helped me beta this chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything related to Harry Potter. Which is sad, really.

* * *

><p><em>November 20th<em>

_Day 46_

_Sunday_

_"You know," he whispered into her ear, "You're so beautiful, but you just can't see it."_

_She shivered as his breath tingled on her skin._

"_And you do?" She asked slowly, unsure of his actions._

"_Of course," He said. Gently, he cupped her face with his hands. They were so smooth, she realised, they felt so smooth and soft on her skin. _

_He was staring at her, his eyes were looking into hers, capturing her soul. _

"_So beautiful, Hermione," He whispered again. They were so close. Their foreheads were touching and she could feel him leaning in and closing the gap between their mouths._

_It was like electricity. _

_The way his lips moved against hers, the slightest touch and she felt like she was going to melt in his arms. He traced his tongue on her lips asking for the opening which she readily gave. _

_She kissed him harder than she had ever kissed anyone before – and then he pulled away. His face was flushed and a crooked grin donned his features. _

"_That … that was amazing," He said, touching her waist gingerly. He then lowered his lips once again, this time to place a small kiss on her forehead. _

"_Draco – "_

Hermione woke up to the sound of her alarm ringing, telling her that it was 8 a.m. and she should be expecting Ginny with Teddy any minute now.

She sat up in her queen-sized bed and groaned as she pressed her thumbs to her temples.

"I can't believe – what kind of dream did I just have?" She asked herself, scowling.

Sighing, she slowly got out of bed and put on her robe and went to pick Aidan up.

"You're such an adorable baby," Hermione cooed, smiling.

While she was walking to the door, she heard Ginny call out her name.

"Ginny!" Hermione grinned at her best friend. She frowned when she noticed her other best friend was missing. "Where's Harry?"

"Oh, you know him, always leaving the packing to the last minute!" Ginny grinned.

Teddy was holding Ginny's hand. When he saw Hermione, he rushed to her and hugged her legs.

"Auntie Mione!" The boy was all ears. "Where's Uncle Draco?"

"He's still sleeping, honey," Hermione patted the boy's head. "Why don't you go and find him?"

Teddy nodded eagerly and ran into Hermione's bedroom while Hermione let Ginny play with Aidan.

"I can't wait for him to walk and talk, you know?" Hermione sighed with a smile. "These kids, they grow up so fast! I remember when Teddy was still a baby. Now, well, just look at him!"

Ginny grinned. "He's a handful but we love him. We love having him over on weekends, you know. By the way, have you guys thought of what's going to happen to Aidan when he grows older?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, we haven't but it's going to be difficult for all of us when the time comes."

"You both should spend as much time with him now as you can," Ginny smiled. "Where's Teddy, anyway?"

They then heard the pitter-patter of Teddy's feet against the floor and a grunting sound behind him.

"Look! I found Uncle Draco!" Teddy grinned, pulling Draco behind him.

Draco glared at the two women and the boy. He snatched his hand away from Teddy and crossed his arms over his chest. He was only dressed in a t-shirt and boxers. His hair was sticking out at all angles and he had pillow lines all over his face.

Oblivious to Draco's morning bad-mood, Teddy scowled at him. "Uncle Draco, why weren't you in your room?"

"Huh?" He grunted. "You just pulled me from my room, Teddy."

Ginny giggled at the sight of a half-asleep Draco. "He's actually quite good looking, Hermione," She whispered.

Hermione snorted. "Yeah, if you're into that sort of thing." _Maybe a tiny bit._

"No! You're supposed to be in that room!" Teddy pointed at Hermione's door.

Curious, Draco asked, "… And why do you say that?"

"Because you're my Uncle Draco and she's my Aunt Mione!" Teddy explained. "You're like Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny! They sleep in the same room!"

"Huh?" Draco was stumped. He had no idea what logic the child before him was using.

"Did you have a fight with Aunt Mione?" Teddy tried again. This time, he crossed his arms in an imitation of Draco. "Because when Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny have a fight, Uncle Harry comes and sleeps in the spare room!"

Without waiting for Draco to reply, Teddy grinned at him. "You gotta say sorry to Aunt Mione for fighting! When Uncle Harry does that, he and Aunt Ginny kiss and everything is okay!"

"Um, Teddy, I think that's enough," Ginny said, trying to stop anything bad from happening.

Draco's jaw had officially dropped. "Weasley, what have you been feeding my nephew?"

"NO!" Teddy yelled. "Uncle Draco, you gotta kiss Aunt Mione to make it all okay!"

"Teddy, really I don't think we need to do that…" Hermione protested, walking over to him. "Uncle Draco and I aren't like Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny. We're different. We don't sleep in the same room."

"It's no use explaining to him, Granger," Draco mumbled. "He's a damn good persuader."

"NO NO NO!" Teddy screamed. "In school, we learn that all the mummies and daddies sleep in the same room and- and-" he stammered, "and- MMPH!" With that, he stormed away to the sofa where Ginny sat, holding Aidan. "Why won't they kiss and be happy like you and Uncle Harry?"

"Because they don't like each other like how Uncle Harry and I do, honey," Ginny explained.

"But you don't like Uncle Harry too," Teddy pouted. "You always scream Uncle Harry's name at night. I can hear, you know."

Ginny's eyes widened. "Um… We were just arguing, it's nothing much! Anyway, I've got to go now. Be good, alright?"

Hermione smirked at Ginny when she came to pass Aidan to her. "Silencing charms next time, please."

Ginny blushed furiously before saying goodbye.

"What was that all about?" Draco asked, still in a slight daze.

Teddy stood in front of him, tapping his foot impatiently. "Are you gonna kiss Aunt Mione or what?"

"No, he's not. Teddy, why don't you watch some television, alright?" Hermione said. Now she was beginning to see what a 'handful' he was.

"Are you gonna kiss him instead? Because sometimes Aunt Ginny kisses Uncle Harry too," Teddy asked, innocently.

"If we kiss, are you going to behave yourself?" Draco asked, exasperated.

_Why did I just suggest that? Is it because of what Blaise said? DAMN HIM TO ETERNAL HELL. Ever since we had that damn conversation, all these stupid ideas keep popping into my head! And now… now I'm even contemplating about kissing her? _

"I said yes, Uncle Draco! Hello? Didn't you hear me?" Teddy exclaimed interrupting Draco's thoughts. He could be very persuasive when he wanted to be, and now, all he wanted to do was to help his second favourite uncle make up with his second favourite aunt.

He couldn't understand what the matter was. His Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny kissed all the time!

Draco looked at Hermione and shrugged. She rolled her eyes. "Why not?" She asked.

Draco glared at Teddy before taking a step towards Hermione. He cupped Hermione's left cheek and placed a soft kiss on her right cheek. His face had turned a light shade of pink as he quickly walked back to his room. "Get ready in twenty," He murmured.

"THAT WASN'T A REAL KISS, UNCLE DRACO!"

.

.

.

"Why so glum, chump?" Hermione asked Teddy, who was sitting next to her and scowling.

Hermione, Teddy and Aidan (who was in his pram) were sitting on a bench watching Draco and his Quidditch mates start their game. Hermione had brought herself a new novel to read while she waited for Draco to finish playing.

Teddy, however, had other plans in mind.

"I want to go to the playground!" He whined. "It's boring here!"

Hermione sighed and looked at the boy. He was giving her his best impression of a puppy-dog. He had turned both his hair and eyes brown to match hers for the day. _The little suck-up_, Hermione thought.

"Oh, alright, but you've got to go ask Uncle Draco first," Hermione gave the boy a push towards Draco direction.

Teddy ran and pummelled into Draco's back with a giant grin on his face. Hermione saw him excitedly explaining something with a lot of hand gestures. Draco looked a bit shocked at Teddy's actions but stayed (sort of) calm, nonetheless. Finally, Teddy gave him a big hug and ran back to Hermione.

"He said yes!" Teddy exclaimed, showing off his missing tooth. "Come on, let's go, Aunt Mione!"

"Teddy, wait!" Hermione yelled while Teddy ran off to the direction of the playground.

This was a secluded wizarding park which catered to both adults and children. The adult side was just a Quidditch pitch for those who fancied a scrimmage or two. The children's side was the more appealing one, with jungle gyms and slides, merry-go-rounds and sandpits.

The children's playground was surrounded by a few small wizarding shops that catered to the community that lived around there, like a grocery store and an ice-cream parlour.

Hermione tucked her book under her arm and pushed Aidan's pram towards Teddy, who had already began to climb up the jungle gym. She settled herself on another bench where she could keep her hawk-eyes on him.

Boy, was Teddy energetic. Hermione had high hopes that he would soon tire out and fall asleep by the time they were done with lunch.

Soon enough, Hermione was absorbed in her book. She had absent-mindedly sighed while she read about the most potent potions ever invented. She had always wanted to be the best in Potions because it was an interesting subject, but Draco had always beaten her in that one.

Draco.

Hermione groaned as she remembered the events of the previous night.

.

.

.

_"Thank you, Malfoy," She whispered in between sobs. _

_Straightening himself up, he pulled Hermione up onto her feet as well. He walked her to the living room slowly, making sure that she didn't lose her balance. He wasn't sure if crying women were off-balance but he didn't want to take the chance._

"_Sit, Granger," He gestured towards the sofa before putting Aidan into her arms. _

_Hermione numbly took Aidan and cradled him. She was at a loss; she wasn't sure what to do, or what had just happened. She didn't think that cleaning out the room would've affected her that badly._

_He put a cup of hot tea on the coffee table in front of her. "Hot tea," He offered. "I didn't poison it, don't worry."_

_Hermione gave a small chuckle. "Of course not."_

_Draco rolled his eyes. "Here, give him to me, I'll feed him."_

_Hermione handed Aidan to Draco, who gently took him in his arms. Draco smiled softly at Aidan before brushing his light brown hair out of his face._

"_Drink up, Granger. It will calm you down."_

_Hermione sighed before picking up her cup of tea. She took a sip and was surprised at the taste of the tea. It was just enough milk and sugar. There was also another taste in it… a familiar taste that she knew but … he couldn't have, right? _

"_MALFOY!" Hermione hissed, once her brain had processed the substance that was supposed to calm her down. "Is there Firewhiskey in this?"_

_He snorted as he came out of the kitchen with Aidan. "Yes, I didn't have a calming draught so this was the next best thing."_

_They sat in silence while Draco fed Aidan. Once he was done, he patted his back before putting him off to sleep in his crib._

_Hermione's grip on the cup of tea had yet to loosen as her sad expression came back._

_Draco came back into the living room and sat opposite her. _

"_You should have waited," He sighed._

"_I know," Hermione sighed as well. "I guess … I guess I was too impatient."_

"_Typical Granger, right?" Draco gave her a small smile. "Always the overzealous one."_

_Hermione laughed softly. "Well, that's true."_

"_I'll help you clean the room when I come back, alright?" He stated, making it clear that he would take no objections._

_Hermione nodded. "Alright, but you don't have to if you can't."_

"_It doesn't matter if I can or can't… Pansy was my best friend too and I'm going to do it," Draco said. "By the way, what the hell were you thinking, not even bothering to turn on the lights? I swear, I thought something bad had happened here, the way the whole place was empty. It was scary, yeah? I was wo – "_

_He cut his sentence abruptly, his eyes were widening as if in shock. His mouth was forming an 'O' shape._

"_Err…" He said, looking at his hands. _

"_Were you… worried?" Hermione asked, disbelief clearly showed on her face._

"_You could put it that way, if you want to," He huffed. "You said it, not me."_

"_Oh, come off it, Malfoy! It's not the worst thing in the world to be worried about someone!" Hermione said loudly._

_Draco kept quiet, still looking at his hands. He cleared his throat and looked at Hermione, but decided against it and looked back down at his hands._

"_I know, it's because I'm beneath you, right? And you hate me?" Hermione snorted. "That's why you feel terrible about feeling worried about me, right?"_

_Draco scowled at her. "I don't hate you, Granger."_

"_Then why did you have such a disgusted expression when you realised you were worried about me and Aidan?" Hermione questioned him._

"_It's because… ah fuck, you wouldn't give a shit about what I have to say anyways," He growled, sending a glare at her direction._

"_Try me," She said. "Don't be too quick to think that I wouldn't care."_

"_It's nothing, Granger," Draco said, stiffly. "I just don't hate you, alright? Now drop it."_

"_Fine, Malfoy," Hermione huffed._

_He got off the sofa and went straight to his room, leaving Hermione to process her thoughts. Hermione sat in silence for a good ten minutes before she began to place the pieces of what had happened together._

_And then something in her brain clicked._

_Draco Malfoy was shocked, gobsmacked and perhaps even slightly amazed that he didn't hate her anymore._

_But why did he have such a big reaction when she didn't turn on the lights? Was he honestly worried about her safety?_

_Hermione sighed. _

"_I don't hate you too, you dolt." She said into the darkness._

_._

_._

_._

What pulled Hermione away from her recollection of the previous night was the cries of Aidan, who had needed a diaper change.

Hermione groaned. "Why now, Aidan?"

She stood up from the bench, dusting her jeans before pushing the pram to look for Teddy.

"Teddy!" Hermione called out, keeping an eye out for the hyperactive boy.

He came running to her at once. "Yes, Aunt Mione? Do we have to go now?"

"What gave you that idea, silly?" Hermione smiled. "No, you just have to follow me to the toilet to change Aidan's diaper."

Teddy frowned. "But he's smelly!"

"You were a smelly baby too, Teddy," Hermione squeezed his tiny hand. "Come now."

He trudged beside Hermione, scowling. He didn't want to go and wait for a smelly baby to get changed! He wanted to get on the swings before that nasty boy who looked like an ape took it from him! He wanted to be king of the jungle-gym again! He wanted to be the ruler of the sand-pit! And this smelly baby was taking his chances away from him.

Teddy was scowling as he entered the women's toilet. He watched Hermione take Aidan out of the pram and take a clean diaper from the compartment under the pram.

"This stinks, Aunt Mione!" Teddy scrunched up his nose. "Can I wait outside?"

"Teddy…" Hermione said slowly, giving him her 'look'.

"Please, Aunt Mione, please?" Teddy put his tiny gloved hands together and pleaded. "Please, please, please, please, please, please?"

And now Hermione realised what Draco meant when he said that Teddy was – she quotes – 'a damn good persuader'.

He had given her another one of his puppy-dog eyes. It was making her heart melt. She sighed.

"Alright, but don't go anywhere!" Hermione gave in. "Just stay by the door! And don't go anywhere with strangers. Don't talk to strangers either. Promise?"

"I promise!" Teddy yelled before going out.

She hummed a tune while she magically changed Aidan's diapers, thinking how convenient this method was. It was definitely cleaner than the Muggle method she was used to. She put some baby powder on Aidan before she re-dressed him, extra scarf and all.

And yet again, Hermione wondered why she decided that a day in the park in the middle of winter was a good idea.

Walking out of the toilet, Hermione looked left and right, panicking when she realised that Teddy was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit," She muttered.

Scrambling, she pushed the pram quickly to the bench where they had sat earlier to see if Teddy was there. But he wasn't. He wasn't even at the playground.

"Teddy!" She walked briskly around the children's park, hoping and praying that he would be somewhere, perhaps playing with another child.

Hermione smacked her forehead when the cold, hard truth dawned on her. She had just lost Teddy.

"Can't I do _anything_ right?" She mumbled.

In panic, Hermione pushed Aidan's pram as fast as she could to get to the Quidditch pitch. It had only been about an hour since she had left Draco to his mates. She was panting by the time she reached Draco and his friends, who were still up in the air.

"Malfoy!" Hermione yelled at the flying blonde. "Get down from there!"

Draco looked at Hermione from 40 feet up. She was waving her hands like a lunatic, screaming something impossible for him to comprehend. He squinted. There was something wrong with the picture. Where was Teddy?

"Hey, Draco, mate," Theodore Nott nudged his broom. "You better get down there. She looks like she's going to explode."

Giving Theo a nod, Draco zoomed down right in front of Hermione. He noticed that she was panting.

"What?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Hermione almost yelled hysterically. "Your nephew ran off without me and I have no _bloody_ clue where he went!"

"What?" Draco said in shock. "Wha – how – when?"

"I made him follow me to the loo to change Aidan because I didn't want him to go missing, but he wanted to wait outside because he couldn't stand the smell," Hermione said. "He _promised_ me he wouldn't go anywhere, that little bugger."

"And you believed him?" Draco smirked.

"This is not the time, Malfoy!" She smacked his arm.

He ignored her and turned around. "Blaise!" He yelled. "Keep an eye on Aidan. We're going to find my missing nephew."

"Aye, aye, captain!" Blaise saluted mockingly while walking towards the pram.

Draco grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her back to the children's park.

"Is there anywhere you think he might've gone?" He asked.

"I've checked all over the playground," She replied. "You don't think he could've gone to the shops, could he?"

"Granger, with that kid, anything's possible," Draco growled. "Why weren't you firmer with him?"

"You know how he is with his big eyes and that smile!" Hermione argued back.

They half-ran half-walked around the shops, looking for Teddy. They walked into the grocery shop, asking the shopkeeper if they've seen a small boy, around 5 years old with brown hair and brown eyes. The old witch shook her head with a sorry look on her face.

The pair ran into each shop asking everyone if they had seen Teddy.

Hermione and Draco nearly rejoiced when the shopkeeper of the ice-cream parlour told them that he had indeed seen a little boy with brown hair and brown eyes but he was accompanied by an older woman. Thanking him, they walked back to the park.

"Oh, where could he be?" Hermione growled.

"This is all your fault, Granger!" Draco half-yelled, grabbing Hermione by the shoulders.

"My fault? Why does it always have to be _my fault_?" Hermione yelled back.

"Because it is!" Draco sneered. "If you had been firmer with him, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Yes, YES! It's my fault, I know it is! But you don't have to yell at me!" Hermione snarled.

"Oh for Salazar's sake, this is a waste of time, arguing with you. We're supposed to be looking for him and that blasted child abductor!" Draco let go of Hermione's shoulders and massaged his temples.

"We should split up and look for him, we can cover more ground that way," Hermione suggested.

But before they could even walk five feet from each other, they heard a familiar squeal. They turned around and faced each other and nodded in understanding. Teddy's laughter was growing louder and louder, and it came from somewhere behind them.

"You're so funny, Grandma Cissa!" They heard Teddy shriek in delight again.

Draco stopped in his tracks. "Grandma … Cissa?" He murmured.

He quickly ran towards the direction of Teddy's laughs, with Hermione hot on his tail and came face to face with his mother and a bouncing Teddy, who was holding an ice-cream cone, on her lap.

"Mother?" Draco was surprised to see his mother here, of all places. "Why are you here?"

"Oh Draco, is that how you greet your mother?" Narcissa Malfoy gave him a soft smile, her blue eyes were twinkling with joy. "It's been ages since I last saw you, dear. And this must be the famous Aunt Mione that Teddy keeps talking about."

Hermione gave her a hesitant smile. She was still wary of Narcissa Malfoy.

"What do you want, mother?" Draco asked. "You gave us a shock there, taking Teddy like that."

Narcissa laughed. "I saw him staring at the swings, looking a bit left out. Then he saw me and he begged for ice-cream! How could I say no to those big eyes of his?"

Draco groaned. "Not that old trick again!"

"Grandma Cissa, remember how I told you how Uncle Draco and Aunt Mione were fighting?" Teddy diverted all the attention back to him. He was good at that, being a natural charmer. "They still haven't kissed."

Narcissa let out a loud laugh while Draco glared at Teddy who seemed unfazed by his uncle's death stare. Hermione had turned slightly pink as she remembered her dreams of the night before.

"Will you make them kiss so they'll stop fightin', Grandma Cissa?" Teddy licked his ice-cream cone while begging his grand-aunt. "Pleeeeeeaaaaaaseeee?"

"Well, Draco, Miss Granger –" Narcissa started but she was rudely cut off by her own son.

"Mother, you can't seriously be thinking that we should do what Teddy wants us to do, right?" Draco himself looked unsure at his statement.

Hermione wasn't sure whether it was the weather or did Draco just turn another shade paler when his mother nodded. She, on the other hand, turned a deeper shade of pink. The prospect of kissing Draco Malfoy and making her dream come true (literally!) was… interesting.

"Humour the boy, Draco!" Narcissa smiled. "I'm sure you and Miss Granger wouldn't mind."

"Mother, please!" Draco gritted his teeth. "I really don't think –"

"Don't be rude, Draco!" Narcissa chided him.

"Are you two gonna kiss or what? Because I don't like it if you're fighting!" Teddy wailed. "You gotta kiss her and make it all better, Uncle Draco!"

Draco grimaced. He looked over at Hermione, who shrugged. He sighed and faced her.

"This must be a dream come true to kiss me, eh, Granger?" He joked, attempting to make light of the awkward situation.

"Shut up, Malfoy. Let's just get this over and done with," Hermione whispered. He didn't have to know how close he was to the truth. "Your mother and Teddy are staring."

Draco gave a smirk before closing the gap between them.

The supposedly chaste kiss lasted a bit longer than they'd expected it to. When Draco had eventually pulled away, his face felt flushed. He looked over at Hermione, who was looking at her shoes.

Draco didn't expect to find Hermione's so soft and supple. He didn't expect to actually find that he might have slightly liked the kiss. He could have expected that this kiss only reinforced the attraction he had for her (the one that he had denied to Blaise only a night ago).

He couldn't understand why his heart was beating like he had just run a marathon. He didn't know why he could feel a weird sensation in his stomach. _Was that what people called butterflies in their stomach? _He wondered.

Draco wasn't sure about what had just happened but he was quite positive (although in denial) that he had liked it.

And as for Hermione, there was only one way to describe the kiss.

It was like electricity.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Am I hoping for too much for you wonderful people to make my day and possibly even my year by reviewing? Haha.

The best xmas present I could get would be the reviews for this chapter!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

See you next year, lovelies!

x


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** I am so sorry that this has taken so long to be put up. I had procrastinated like crazy (I admit!) but I do have a valid reason for all of this. I've been really busy because I'm migrating and yeah... Immigration stuff and bleh.

Thank you for the Xmas wishes and Happy New Year to everyone of you wonderful people :-)

For mallowstream who asked how many chapters there are (I PM-ed you but in case you didn't read it), I have no idea how many more chapters there are. I had initially planned about 20-25 chapters but now... I'm not sure anymore. Haha. I'm not very good at planning, you see.

I'd like to thank everyone one of you who reviewed that last chapter! It was my most reviewed chapter and it made me very happy! :-)

I'd also like to thank my _finally_ official beta: fredaintdead!

Onwards to the story!

**Disclaimer:** I'm too sleepy to think of something witty so... I am not JK Rowling blah blah blah you know the drill.

* * *

><p><em>November 27th<em>

_Day 53_

_Sunday afternoon_

" – and you won't believe what George told me – him and Angelina! I'm just – wow!" Ginny exclaimed, pushing the door open into Hermione's flat with her shoulder.

Ginny was carrying two shopping bags full of junk food and ice-cream while Hermione was cradling Aidan. They were supposed to have a bonding session this afternoon while waiting for Harry and Draco to come back from their mission.

"I thought everyone knew they were together?" Hermione asked, locking the door behind her.

"We knew they were dating, we never knew that they were so serious!" Ginny set all the things on Hermione's kitchen counter, taking out the ice-cream and putting it in the refrigerator. "Getting married and all, that's a huge step for the both of them. They're even planning a summer wedding!"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm happy for them. They look good together."

Ginny slyly grinned at Hermione. "And I know another couple who'd look good together after what a little birdie told me…"

Hermione stuck her tongue out at her best friend before sitting on her sofa.

"Teddy told you, didn't he?" Hermione groaned.

"Well, what can I say?" Ginny grinned, waggling her eyebrows. "He said, I quote – 'Uncle Draco should be Auntie Hermione's boyfriend because they kissy kissy nicely' – and he compared me and Harry with the both of you. I still want to hear about the kiss, you know."

Hermione snorted. "No."

"You cow! I still have a hard time believing that you really kissed him!" Ginny exclaimed, slapping Hermione in the arm.

Hermione glared at her.

"How was it then? You've got to tell me everything," Ginny was grinning from ear to ear, hugging her knees. "Teddy didn't want to tell me anything, he said it was too gross for him to handle."

"It was alright, I guess," Hermione tried to hide her embarrassment of actually, truthfully finding that kiss more than simply 'alright'.

Shaking her head, Ginny said incredulously, "You're blushing. It must have been better than what you're letting on!"

"Really, Gin, it's nothing," Hermione glared. "Let's just play with Aidan, alright?"

"That's adorable," Ginny cooed as she pinched his cheek (an action which earned her a glare from Hermione). "And Hermy! Don't you dare change the subject!"

"Don't call me Hermy!" Hermione said. "Fine, if you must ask, go ahead. I couldn't care less about what you'd want to know anyway."

"Great," Ginny smiled. She put Aidan on her lap and started to bounce him up and down. "What I really want to know is, what did you feel when he landed that smacker on you?"

Hermione kept quiet. Did she honestly want to answer this question? Half of her wanted to accept whatever she had felt and proclaim it as attraction. The other half wanted to deny it as much as possible, fearing that her attraction to him could have the possibility of growing into something more.

She sighed. She had nothing to lose in her internal struggle. At least Draco wasn't here to hear whatever she was about to spill.

"It felt –"

"Good? Wonderful? Sloppy? Magical?" Ginny offered, her lips twitching upwards with every word.

" – electrical," Hermione declared. "Alright?"

"Oh, it's better than alright!" Ginny grinned. "I always knew you'd eventually get attracted to him. I mean, come on, what's not attractive? His hair looks so soft and Merlin! Have you seen that body – "

"Ginny, if you're so interested, why don't you date him?" Hermione teased her best friend.

"That's not the point, Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed in mock horror. "The point is, you are a single, attractive young lady, living with a certified, grade A –"

"Arse?" Hermione grinned.

" – beautifully sculptured young wizard," Ginny ignored Hermione's comment. "And you'd be a fool not to act on your attraction."

"How do you know I'm attracted to him?" Hermione asked her, warily. "It's not as if you have some sort of attraction radar, you know."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I know things, Hermione. I've noticed something going on between the both of you ever since we went for that picnic. The way he looked at you, I mean, if he wasn't attracted to you, I wouldn't know what was going on. What's a radar thing anyway?"

Hermione winced. "It's a Muggle thing… Never mind that. And that's nonsense, Gin. He doesn't even like me."

"I can never understand those Muggle things…" Ginny snorted before continuing. "He willingly kissed you, right?"

Hermione nodded slowly.

"Then there should've been at least _something_ going on in him," Ginny shrugged. "Besides, have you ever thought of dating him?"

The brunette sitting next to her scoffed. "You have got to be kidding! Can you imagine me, dating Malfoy? I really can't see that happening at all."

"He's not so bad, you know!" Ginny said. "You and I both know he absolutely adores Aidan –"

"–out of obligation–" interrupted Hermione, raising her eyebrows.

" – and we both know that isn't true," the redhead said. "I know he was a giant prick in school but Harry and him have learnt to get along. I think the both of you should too."

Hermione scowled. "We are getting along, you know!"

"Why are you doing this, Ginny? This… playing cupid thing?" Hermione asked.

Ginny shrugged again. "You deserve to be happy, Hermione." _And Aidan's really taking the matchmaking slow_, Ginny told herself, silently.

"Why on earth do you think I can find happiness with Malfoy?" Hermione scoffed.

"Retract the claws, love," Ginny hugged Aidan, as if Aidan could protect her from Hermione's wrath. "Do you really want me to count the ways?"

Hermione nodded, still glowering.

She knew she was attracted to him. It was just so difficult to be attracted to someone that she had spent her entire life loathing. Even though she had come to terms with herself that Draco wasn't such a bad person, Hermione still had doubts putting herself in such a vulnerable position.

"Well, for one, the both of you are intelligent. You could have intellectual conversations with him that you most probably couldn't have had with your previous boyfriends like my brother," Ginny smiled. "And the both of you are so explosive together. Can you imagine the passion when you have sex –"

"Ginny! Please!" Hermione cried. "Not in front of Aidan." _And me_, Hermione added silently.

Ginny rolled her eyes and covered Aidan's ears. He looked up at her and just stared. Ginny scrunched up her nose and wondered why all babies just liked to stare at her.

Before Ginny could continue with her next reason of 'Why Hermione and Draco should get together', the fireplace roared and out stepped a dark, hooded figure.

.

.

.

Hermione was shocked. Her brain, however, was running several thousand thoughts at once. She was wondering how that person got in. She wondered what had happened to her wards. She was wondering about so many things, she had failed to realise that Ginny had placed the frightened Aidan in her arms.

"STUPEFY!" Ginny cried out after fishing for her wand in her handbag.

The dark figure had barely managed to pass the coffee table set in the middle before it slumped forwards on the armchair opposite Hermione.

"Thanks, Gin," Hermione muttered. "I didn't know what came over me. It was like I – I –I couldn't react."

Ginny smiled. "It's alright. How did – I thought you had wards… Do you want me to take of its hood?"

Hermione nodded. She was now shushing Aidan and hugging him while he looked up at her with his big, teary eyes. She had no idea what had happened to her wards. She had blocked her Floo only to allow herself and Draco in.

Ginny walked over to the person and used her wand to tip the hood over.

"AH!" She cried, before stumbling back into the coffee table. Under the hood, staring right back at her unmistakeably was the mask of a Death Eater.

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand and gasped. This was not what she had expected to be barging in on her girls' day with Ginny. After all this time, she thought that she wouldn't have to be on the receiving end of these kind of visits anymore.

"I'm going to unmask him…" Ginny said tentatively. Hermione could only nod. She was still in shock.

Ginny poked at the Death Eater's mask before removing it with a _Wingardium Leviosa_. Her eyes widened and she didn't know whether she wanted to sigh with relief or cry out in anger.

"It's Malfoy," She stated. "_Ennervate_."

"MERLIN'S BALLS! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Draco roared, sitting back up. He glared at the brunette and the redhead. "You know, I was expecting a nice warm welcome but that – that was not what I had in mind. You could have seriously injured me if you didn't unmask me!"

"Maybe if you didn't wear that mask, you could've gotten that warm welcome you wanted," Hermione snapped. "Why were you wearing it, anyway?"

"Zurich," Draco simply said, shrugging. "I forgot I had it on. I came back straight after we arrived at the Ministry. Anyway, I'm here to tell you that we're back, of course and Potter's having a celebration party at his place in a bit. I don't know about you lot, but I'm going."

Draco skulked away into his room with his black robes billowing behind him.

"Well, that was rather anticlimactic, don't you think?" Hermione asked Ginny, who now sported a look of amusement on her face.

"Harry thinks he can have a party and not inform me?" Ginny snorted. "I'm definitely going to see if he needs help. You should know the kind of things he gets into when he tries to cook."

"Maybe I can pop by later, after I ward this place up and put Aidan to sleep," Hermione mused. "Just to congratulate him and stuff."

"Yeah, you should. I should get going anyway. I bet Harry's looking for me or something," Ginny kissed Aidan's cheek and hugged Hermione before she Floo-ed to her and Harry's place.

.

.

.

Draco groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. He had gotten out of the shower a while ago and was now lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He contemplated whether he should fish for his pack of cigarettes in his desk drawer but decided against it.

"If I can't reach it, I don't need it," He mumbled his 'I have to quit smoking' mantra. "Can't reach it, don't need it."

After all, he didn't want to die from this lung cancer that Pansy used to talk about all the time.

Draco felt a pang of sadness at the thought of Pansy.

"I still miss you," He whispered. "You weren't supposed to just _die_…"

He sat up slowly and looked at the table beside his bed. Hermione had snuck into his room when he was at work to place that photo she took of him and Aidan during their early days in the flat. Draco couldn't help but emit a small smile as he shook his head.

Aidan was the only piece of Pansy he had left. And he was going to cling on it as if his own life depended on it.

He took that photo and walked up to the only window in his room and opened it. Draco relished the cool air that was flowing through as he looked at the photo.

He was stupid to deny that he didn't miss Aidan when he was away.

In truth, Draco had missed Aidan very, very much. And he had yet to hold his _son_ for the day. It pained him that he had forgotten to take that photograph with him when he went to Zurich. It would've been easier to handle.

"Damn that Granger," He mumbled, leaning against the window sill. "I can't believe she let the Weaslette stunned me," He whined. "What kind of person stuns their roommate?"

Draco also found it very difficult to deny that he had been waiting all week to see the bushy-haired brunette that he shared a flat with.

He might not have missed her as much as he missed Aidan but there was just something about her _presence_ that he missed. In a way, he missed the fact that there was no one to nag at him to keep his dishes clean or to tell him not to play with her Muggle things. He missed the times where they would spend time with Aidan, whether it was just playing with him in the living room or taking him out for walks.

He felt like he was stupid to feel this way about her, seeing as she was just … just… _Hermione_.

Draco then remembered something he had said a few nights ago to her too, something that ran along the lines of 'a day without her was just no good'.

He groaned and ran his hands through his messy, un-styled hair.

As he looked at the photograph in his hands once more and even Blaise's words from a few nights ago drifted back into his head.

_"Don't change the subject, Draco. The way you talked about her earlier, you may not like her now but you look like you're bloody well on the way," Blaise shrugged. "You can't deny that the way you complained about her … you're like a married couple."_

Draco groaned once more. Was this what it was? Was he feeling some sort of attraction to her?

_Yes_, his inner voice told him. _Stop fighting the attraction, Draco…_

He scowled. Sure, so what? He was – perhaps – a tiny bit attracted to Hermione. _Just a tiny bit,_ he kept telling himself.

_Sure, Draco… sure._

.

.

.

"Granger?" Draco called out as he stepped out of his room. He wore a white button down shirt and black slacks. It was contrasting. He had spent a good ten minutes on his hair, gelling it up to look all-natural, just like he had rolled out of bed.

"In here!" He heard her yell from her room.

Draco opened the door slightly and peeked in. She was sitting on her bed with Aidan. Apparently, it looked like she was reading something to him. She gave him a small smile and beckoned for him to come in.

"You must've missed him," She said quietly while pushing Aidan's hair back from his face.

"… Yes, I did," Draco said, taking a small step into the room. "I wanted to ask you if you were going to the party? I'm going soon."

Hermione shook her head. "No. I don't feel comfortable if Aidan stays here alone. He's still a baby."

Draco nodded his head in understanding. He walked over to the bed and slowly picked Aidan up. He gave the boy a small smile before pecking his cheek.

Hermione stared at the two of them. She knew that Draco adored Aidan but she didn't know that he was the type that would openly show affection for the child, especially in front of her. She sighed softly. There was always something new she would learn about him.

"I promised myself that I would be a better person, a good role-model," Draco said quietly, still holding Aidan. "I want my son to grow up knowing that I had changed from what I was before. It's hard you know, to start over. But it's for _his_ generation that I have changed."

Once more, Hermione stared at the two of them. He had not lifted his eyes from Aidan the whole time he was standing there. If she had tuned out, she would not have even been able to catch what he had said.

And once more, he had surprised her.

She didn't know whether she liked what she was feeling right now. She knew it was the attraction building up. Hermione had to admit that there was a time where she had admired his good looks back in their school days. But this was different. He had opened up a whole new side to her that she was certain only a few people knew of.

It was interesting to see Draco Malfoy's other side: the side that wasn't a complete arsehole.

"Malfoy," She said, walking out the door towards the living room. "I want to talk to you. Can we go to the living room?"

They sat down facing each other in the living room; Draco sat on the armchair while Hermione settled herself down on the sofa.

Hermione noticed Draco wince as Aidan laid his head on Draco's shoulder. _Did he get injured during the mission? _Hermione wondered.

Draco stared at Hermione, wondering what she wanted to talk about. She had never sat him down like this before. Was it something serious?

"If this is about the whole Death Eater uniform thing –" He started but he was cut off by Hermione.

Shaking her head, she paused. What was she supposed to say? She had no idea why she even told him that she wanted to talk to him. It would have been easier if she had let her attraction for him die off. It would have been less embarrassing than this.

"Malfoy, do you date a lot?" The words just spilled out of her mouth without her control. Hermione could feel a blush creep up her cheeks as Draco took in the question. She hadn't meant to ask something like that at all.

"Granger, I thought you were the brightest witch of our age," Draco scoffed. "I think you might have noticed me being here almost every night. And the nights that I'm not here, I'm either at Blaise's or I have work. What do you think?"

Snorting, "You could have just given me a straight answer, you know."

"I have no time to date," He explained. "Come on, Granger, be realistic. Can you imagine how the girls will react when I tell them that I'm living with another woman, taking care of our shared child? They'd Apparate in an instant.

"And you and I both know these women only date me for my money. I may look shallow, but I'd actually like to date someone with a bit more substance than the previous ones. I have never had anything serious because once again, all the women I happen to end up with are always gold-sucking bints."

There were many thoughts floating in his head right now. The main one was 'Why was Hermione Granger asking him this question?'. He saw no need for her to ask something as trivial as this when it was painfully obvious that he had not been dating at all.

It was true, he had no time to date, the only free time he had (one might think he was turning sappy) he rather spend it with Aidan. He guessed that was what fatherhood was even though it just felt like _single_ fatherhood.

And then he questioned himself once again, _why was he telling this to her?_

Hermione was thinking about his answer. She had the same thought he had. She wondered why he was telling this to her. All she wanted was a simple yes or no question only. If he had answered a 'yes, I'm dating someone right now' or even a 'yes, I date a lot' it would have been comforting for her.

Because if he had given her that answer, it would have been easier for her to drop this 'crush' of hers.

And now! Now, she was even contemplating on _dating_ him! Well, that was a small thought she had, after she realised that he wasn't dating anyone. That small glimmer of hope that settled deep in her heart, she felt like – perhaps – for one fleeting moment, she had a chance with him.

_Wait!_ She thought. _Why do I even want to date him? He's not even that good-looking or nice – oh Hermione, stop kidding yourself and give him a chance. You know that he's changed and there's a good person lurking deep, deep down in him._

Give him a chance? She could do that. Yes, she could very well do that. But would he reciprocate? It would be most embarrassing if she told him her growing attraction to him to be replied with a sneer, complete with insults on her blood-status and whatnot.

That was before he scoffed and asked her a question thus, wrenching her away from her daydream.

"Jeez, Granger, didn't you hear a word I said?" Draco scowled. He was already standing up and heading towards the fireplace. "I have to go already. I forgot that I had to get some things from Ogden's."

He had placed a kiss on Aidan's forehead before looking expectantly at Hermione. "Come on, Granger, take him."

Hermione sighed as she walked towards him. She knew that she wouldn't be able to do it. It wasn't a matter of having the guts to do it; it was a matter of having the guts to face what would happen after she did it.

She groaned internally as she took in his features. Why did he have to look so attractive?

_Alright, Hermione_, she told herself. _Let's just do it, alright? Who cares about what Malfoy thinks? He's just a snot-nosed rat… who has really inviting looking lips…_

Hermione stood closer to Draco to receive Aidan. Draco nodded a goodbye to her and grabbed a handful of Floo powder.

It was now or never for Hermione.

With her free hand, she grabbed Draco's arm and spun him around.

Before he could even open his mouth in outrage to ask her what she was playing at, he felt himself staring into her brown eyes.

She looked as if she wanted to say something to him. Hermione had opened her mouth but only her breath came out.

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. It was time, she had to do it. She had to prove it to herself.

Meanwhile, Draco kept on staring at her, wondering what she was going to do. She still held on to his arm. In Draco's point of view, Hermione was struggling with an internal battle of only Merlin knows what.

It was time.

She was going to do it.

Hermione Granger was going to buck up and –

"I really have to get going, Granger," Draco removed Hermione's hand from his arm gently. "Ogden's is expecting me."

Hermione gave him a weak smile as he ruffled Aidan's hair. "Alright then, have fun. Tell Harry I said congrats on a successful mission."

He nodded once more before Floo-ing to Diagon Alley.

Hermione shook her head despondently and looked at the now-empty fireplace.

"Drat."

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><p><strong>AN:** Thank you very much for reading! Any comments or constructive criticism will be very very much appreciated.

Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Thank you everyone who had reviewed/alerted/favourited the last chapter! I really loved your reviews!

I'd like to say a very special thank you to my glorious beta, fredaintdead and my best friend JV for putting up with my continuous bitching about this chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except the plot.

* * *

><p><em>December 12<em>

_Day 68_

_Extremely early Monday morning_

Draco sighed once more and checked his watch. The silver timepiece showed that it was almost one in the morning. He couldn't understand why he was still awake. He had work the next day and it was frustration not being able to get a good night sleep.

It had been about two weeks since Draco had come back from Zurich. Hermione had acted oddly that day, he remembered. The next day, it was like something in her had changed. She would look at him, as if she wanted to tell him something but then she never did. And then there were some points where he thought that she was avoiding him.

"Why should I care if she avoids me or not?" Draco mumbled, stretching his arms. "It would be easier this way."

It was obvious he wasn't going to go to sleep any time soon so he sat up and stared at his room door.

"I don't have to see her or talk to her or… or…" He trailed off, staring at the door. "I shouldn't even be caring." He whispered to himself.

They had cleaned out Pansy's room last weekend. Draco saw how Hermione pretended to look strong in front of him when he knew that she was still hurting. Draco himself was still hurting, he couldn't have expected Hermione to have been apathetic about this.

He had taken some of Pansy's old pictures and put them in his room. Her old clothes have been set aside to be donated seeing as it would have been for the best. The room was also cleaned up and was now going to be used as a spare room until Aidan got older.

Draco sighed. He knew Aidan was going to get older and grow up. He just wondered if Aidan was going to grow up without him. Even though Draco was his father figure now, what would happen if Hermione had gotten married to some bloke? Draco's eyes narrowed at the very thought that he and Aidan would have to be separated just because of some guy.

Draco had to admit that he never thought that he would harbor any sort of attraction towards Hermione.

"It's because of Aidan," Draco attempted to reassure himself. "It's only because of Aidan that this is happening."

_She isn't that bad looking you know! If you're getting so jealous of that guy who'd even marry her why don't you do it before he does? That way, you'll get to stay with Granger and you both will get Aidan!_ Draco's inner demons whispered to him. _Isn't that a wonderful plan? And perhaps you might even want to have more kids with her!_

Draco shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I'm definitely hearing things. I won't ever say something like that!"

He turned off the lights before sliding under the covers once more trying to get comfortable. It was going to be a night full of tossing and turning for him.

.

.

.

_December 16_

_Day 72_

_Extremely early Friday morning_

"Malfoy, what are you doing in the kitchen?" Hermione gasped at the sight of the blonde wizard sitting in her kitchen helping himself to a glass of what appeared to be Firewhiskey. The bottle of Ogden's 100 Year Brew was half-empty. Hermione swore that the bottle was unopened the night before.

"Drinking," He slurred, raising his glass to her. "Do you want to join me, Granger?

Hermione crossed her arms and approached him. "It's two in the morning, what do you think you're doing? And you're drunk! And you have work in the morning!"

"I can't sleep," Draco replied softly. He put his glass down on the island counter before staring at her. "What are _you_ doing up so late then?" He pointed an accusing finger at her.

"Can't sleep either," Hermione mumbled. She walked over to the kettle and began to magically boil water for her hot chocolate.

While she prepared the hot chocolate, she could feel Draco looking at her. He had not taken his eyes off her ever since she entered the kitchen.

She sat down opposite him and cupped the cup in her hand.

_You have to tell him, Hermione! It's eating you up inside. You know you have to do something!_

"Malfoy, I –"

"Granger –"

The both of them said at once. Staring at each other, Hermione gestured at Draco, letting him go first. He curtly nodded before continuing.

"Granger, I think I need to tell you something," He said softly, swirling his glass around. He had looked away from Hermione now. "I – I don't know what has come over me these past few weeks but I think I have found myself – fuck, I can't do it."

He rubbed his temple with his free hand while he took another sip of his drink.

"I've spent four nights or so thinking about it and now – now I can't even say it," He scoffed. "Fucking pathetic."

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"This!" He put down his glass and gestured wildly at the both of them. A look of mild panic was on his face. "I honestly don't know what the fuck is going on, Granger! I don't know what's happening to me! The only possible thing I can think of right now is attraction! And that would be one of the most far-fetched ideas I have ever had in a long time."

"Malfoy… What are you saying?" Hermione asked softly, looking at Draco in the eye. She caught his gaze before he tore his eyes away from her once more.

"I don't know what's happening, alright?" He hissed. "It's not like I asked for this to happen to me. I can't fight it anymore, I don't even know how to! You really want to know what's going on?"

Hermione nodded.

"I think- fuck. IthinkIlikeyou" he raced through the end of his sentence.

"What?"

"I said... I think I like you" he said clearly, but just barely loud enough for her to catch it.

Draco cried out, slamming his glass down on the counter. "I can't fucking understand anything right now. I'm attracted to you and to – to this! This idea of a family that you've given to me! This idea of a warm, caring family that I can be a part of. Fuck!" He closed his eyes and said softly, "I bet you must think I'm crazy. You know what? Just forget it. Forget I ever said anything, alright?"

Draco stood up and took his glass to the sink and washed it.

Hermione looked stunned. She _was_ stunned. It wasn't every day that someone had admitted their attraction to her and Draco Malfoy, nonetheless! She could see it in his eyes how painful it was to have admitted his attraction towards her.

Hermione was surprised when he told her about being attracted to the idea of being a family. In reality, Hermione liked that idea too. She knew that she wasn't a very sought after witch, unlike Lavender or Parvati so she felt that her chances with men were very slim. And after that awkward relationship she had with Ron four years ago, Hermione felt that perhaps that was all she could get.

" – going to bed. Good night," Draco mumbled before walking out of the kitchen.

Hermione swiftly spun around in time to catch his jumper sleeve. "Malfoy, wait."

"No, Granger," He yanked his sleeve back. "I'm not going to stand here and watch you ridicule me. Good night."

"Malfoy, please!" Hermione went after him and pulled his arm. "Just listen to me, alright?"

They were in the living room right now and Hermione had pulled Draco to sit with her on the sofa. He had reluctantly allowed her to speak her mind.

"Malfoy, when you first came here, I disliked you with every fibre of my being," Hermione started. That sentence had earned a snort from Draco who was now sitting cross armed and scowling.

"Look Granger –" He hissed.

"I'm not finished," She snarled back. "Just listen."

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Continuing… And then somewhere along the way, I don't know what happened. Perhaps I ate something wrong or I had caught a bug from the Ministry but I felt like all that dislike… yeah, it was going away," Hermione said softly, looking at her hands. "And then – then maybe... perhaps it turned into something else."

Draco's eyes widened momentarily at her words. "What are you trying to say?"

"I know I had admitted this to myself a while ago but I never had the courage to say it," She said quietly and slowly. "I don't know what good can come out of me saying this but I think – maybe you know, I think I like you too. Yeah. Yeah..." admitting it out loud really did the trick. Hermione had no doubts about it now.

"You're kidding," Draco snorted. He couldn't believe it. This was definitely some sort of joke just to play with him. "You're kidding, right?" He said, unsure.

She shook her head. "I'm not."

"Oh," He sighed and stared at his hands. "Okay… so what happens now?"

"You tell me," Hermione shook her head in amusement. "You know what? Let's just talk about this tomorrow, alright? It's late now and we both have work."

Draco couldn't have agreed more to that. "Yeah, sure."

Both Draco and Hermione had never slept more peacefully that week than that night.

.

.

.

_That afternoon_

Draco tapped his quill against his desk as he stared at the documents in front of him. He looked to his left where Ron and Harry sat, talking to each other. He gave them a curt nod when they looked in his direction before going back to his work.

He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to concentrate. He couldn't get the conversation he had with Hermione during the early hours of the morning out of his head. She said that they would talk but she had left him a note on the kitchen table saying she had to go work early.

_Who cares, Draco?_ He thought to himself grumpily. _She was just fucking with you last night. You should've known better than to have even said anything to her. For all you know, she might have regretted saying anything and decided to skive off that conversation she promised you._

_But why would she do that?_ Draco asked himself. _She's not the type to just simply run off to avoid a matter, right? It's Granger. She's not the type… But – but what if she said that because she pitied me?_

_She pitied me! That's why she told me she liked me too!_ Draco snapped his quill in two. _That – that – dammit! I should have known better! Why was I so gullible?_

Draco groaned and fished out another quill from his drawer. He cried out in frustration when he realized he had absent-mindedly scribbled on the front page of his report while deep in thought.

"Malfoy, you alright there?" Ron piped up. "You've got a bit of –" he pointed at the ink smudge on Draco's cheek. " – ink there."

"Positively peachy," Draco drawled sarcastically, rubbing his cheek. "Stupid Granger." He mumbled.

"What was that?" Ron asked again, leaning towards the irritated blonde.

"Why don't you have any work, Weasley?" Draco snarled, ignoring his question. "All you and Potter ever seem to do is have tea parties and chat like old women."

"I resent that!" Harry cried out. "But really, Malfoy, you're looking terrible today. Did you have a problem with Aidan or something?"

Draco sighed. He wished it was a problem with Aidan but unfortunately it wasn't.

"No and if you two would just leave me alone, that'll make my day, yeah?" Draco said resentfully before grabbing his coat.

"Where are you going?" Ron yelled. "Lunch was over twenty minutes ago!"

Ron was replied by an extremely rude hand gesture.

"Pfft, I wonder how Hermione can stand him!" Ron scowled at Harry.

Harry smirked. "I'm sure she has her ways."

.

.

.

"Miss Granger, there's someone here to see you," A shy bespectacled blonde peeked into Hermione's office.

Hermione looked up from the documents that she was preparing for her upcoming meeting. "Who is it?"

"Draco Malfoy, Miss," Hermione's assistant informed her. "He says it's urgent."

"Oh!" Hermione put down her documents. "Show him in then. Thank you Ella."

Ella smiled and opened the door for Draco to enter.

Draco walked into her office with an unusual sense of calm. After Ella closed the door behind him, he put up a silencing charm on the room.

"What was that for?" Hermione asked him, perplexed.

He sat down facing her and propped his elbows on her desk. "Tell me Granger, last night, was it all a joke?"

"What?" She frowned in confusion.

"I can't believe it," Draco sneered at her. "You won't even admit it!"

"Malfoy! What are you trying to say?" Hermione tried reasoning with him.

"You! You told me that you wanted to talk about it in the morning but you left early for work! What was that all about? Did you regret saying whatever you said? Was it all a joke to you? Did you avoid me on purpose?" Draco yelled.

"I couldn't talk about it in the morning! I forgot I had a meeting to prepare for so I left early!" Hermione yelled back. "And don't yell at me! It's rude!"

"Look who's talking!" Draco exclaimed mockingly. His voice had quieted down.

"It wasn't a joke to me, Malfoy. I take a lot of things seriously and a relationship is one of those things," Hermione explained with a sigh. "Why would I want to joke about something like that?"

Draco slumped in his chair. He cocked his head slightly to the side and shrugged pathetically. He felt his arrogance shatter just a little bit whenever he was with her.

"Maybe it's because you're different that the other ones. Besides, I don't even know why someone like you would even like me."

Hermione frowned. "Someone like me? And what is that supposed to mean?"

Draco blinked a few times before realizing that Hermione was getting angry. And an angry Hermione was never good.

"Nothing – I mean, you're _you_ and I'm _me_…" He explained lamely. How was he to explain it all in words? He could barely even explain it to himself.

She lifted an eyebrow at him.

"You – you've always hated me so…" Draco trailed off softly.

"Malfoy, I've never really hated you. I've disliked you immensely, but never hate. Hate is a strong word that I don't like to use lightly," Hermione said softly, looking into his eyes.

"Look, I like you and I don't know what can come out of this – this attraction but I'm interested to know," Hermione said again, taking his hand. "I'm interested to find out. I'm interested to see how this will go."

Draco squeezed her hand. "I want to do that too."

"Did you really just come all the way over here to get all of that clarified?" Hermione asked in shock as he prepared to leave.

"Yes," Draco nodded. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I should get back to work now." He said sheepishly.

"Wait!" Hermione stood up and walked away from her desk. "Before you go, I just want to tell you that you're different. You're not the same Draco Malfoy that I knew in school. The Draco Malfoy that I like is you. The present, not the past. I can forgive people for their mistakes. Everybody deserves a second chance, even you."

Hermione looked up to find Draco looking back at her. A small smile played on his lips as he tried to hide his growing blush.

Draco smirked before placing his hand on the doorknob. "Maybe, you know, maybe we could go for a date sometime."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course."

"Well… I guess I better go –" Draco was cut off when Hermione pressed her warm lips against his cheek.

She pulled away and a blush had adorned her cheeks as she tried to avoid his gaze.

Hermione smiled. "I'll see you later, okay?"

He nodded before leaving Hermione's office.

When he left, Hermione leaned against the door and smiled.

.

.

.

Draco returned to his desk with a smile on his face.

"What is wrong with you, Malfoy?" Ron asked, breaking Draco's chain of thoughts about the kiss.

"None of your business, Weasley," He sneered.

Recomposing himself, Draco sat down on his desk and groaned. He remembered his unfinished paperwork that he had casually left on his desk before rushing off to see Hermione.

"An owl came for you by the way," Harry said, not looking up from his own paperwork. "It left a letter somewhere on your desk."

Draco scowled as he found the letter, addressed to him in such a fond way he knew that it could only be from his mother.

_Dearest Draco,_

_Why don't you ever come and visit? You know your dear old mummy gets lonely sometimes!_

_Come over for tea, love. I'll ask Dippy to make you your favourite scones with the apricot jam!_

_I'll owl you some other time to tell you when you can come._

_Much love, _

_Mummy_

Draco rolled his eyes. He quickly pocketed the letter before continuing with his work.

"Blaise's assistant dropped by, Draco," Theo said quietly behind his mountain of paperwork. His desk was opposite Draco's. "We're heading to the pub after work for drinks, just letting you know, yeah?"

Draco groaned. "How many things happened while I was away?"

.

.

.

" – And all I did was tell Daphne that I loved her no matter how fat she looked in that dress and she smacked me!" Theo wailed, gulping down his beer. "I don't understand women!"

Leaning against the back of their booth, Blaise tsked at Theo's lack of skill with his girlfriend. Draco merely smirked as he drank his Firewhiskey.

"You've got to keep it simple like me, mate," Blaise patted Theo on the back. "Don't get committed. We're still young and there are plenty of young, fresh birds out there for us!"

Draco snorted into his drink. That was so typical Blaise, trying to convince Theo that there were better things in life than just one woman.

"Don't listen to Blaise. Besides, you can't tell her she's fat, Theo," Draco smirked. "Don't be too honest. Or stupid."

"Exactly!" Blaise exclaimed. "HEY! What do you mean he shouldn't listen to me?"

Draco rolled his eyes, ignoring his best friend.

"It's alright, guys. You know, I really love Daphne but sometimes, she can be so – so – URGH!" Theo slammed his fist down on the table. "I just really need some of my own personal space. I know she cares but sometimes, it's like she cares way too much, you know?"

"Calm down, mate," Draco said in attempt to comfort his best friend. "Don't think about her bad points, think about the good stuff you've had together, yeah?"

Blaise smirked. "Draco's right, Theo. You should go home anyway. Its half past nine now and I bet Daphne will have your arse if you go back any later."

Draco snorted. "That one fine day when one of us gets constricted by a woman, eh mate?"

Theo punched him on the arm before checking his watch. "I guess you're right, Daphne _will_ have my arse if I get back late. Until next time then."

He stepped out of the booth, slapping down a few gold coins on the table and took his coat before bidding his friends a goodbye.

Blaise slumped against the booth and gave Draco a drunken grin.

Draco glared at his best friend. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing, you know…" Blaise grinned giddily.

"There must've been a reason why you chased Theo off so early," Draco enquired, crossing his arms. "So tell me."

Blaise sat up and put his glass down on the table. He leaned across and stared at Draco in the face. "No, _you_ tell me. What's going on with you and Granger?"

"We're not having this conversation again, Blaise and that's final," Draco said, exasperatedly and refilled his glass with another round of Firewhiskey.

"Why not?" Blaise asked. "Is it because you finally realized that you actually like her? That's it, isn't it? Judging by that murderous look on your face right now, I think I might have just hit the jack – FUCK WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO PUNCH ME!"

Draco glared at Blaise menacingly, who was now nursing his right jaw from Draco's vicious hook. The other patrons in the pub just sighed as they looked at the pair. Draco and Blaise were regulars here at the Dementor's Kiss and the others were used to their drunken antics.

"You bloody ponce! Can't you take a tease?" Blaise growled at him, rubbing his face.

"You deserved it! You don't know when to bloody shut up, you know that!" Draco snarled back.

"I know you like her!" Blaise hissed. "That look on your face… it's obvious."

"Shut up!" Draco exclaimed, banging his fists on the table. "You don't have to go announcing it to the whole bloody world!"

"No, I won't! You know I won't go around telling everyone! I'm your best friend. I've known you almost all my life. I know you deserve this chance to be happy even if it has to be her. Don't fuck it up, mate," Blaise grabbed Draco's collar and hissed at him. "You know I don't care about blood and it's about time someone knocked some sense into you too. If you like her, just go for it. Who cares about what others think?

"You've spent your whole life worrying about your reputation and how others will perceive you. You've been too caught up living in your old man's shadow… It's all changed now! Just go for her. If she's the one to make you happy… then… why not?" Blaise loosened his grip on Draco.

Draco stared at him, gob smacked. "I never knew you felt that way…"

"Don't make me get all sappy on you," Blaise snorted. "You're my best mate. I can't just step aside and watch you fuck up your life, can I?"

Draco shook his head slowly. "No. But I guess you just can't keep your meddling self out of my business, can you?"

Blaise laughed. "Definitely not."

"I think you've had too much to drink," Draco snorted at Blaise.

Blaise rolled his eyes and pointed at the almost empty bottle of Firewhiskey next to Draco. "Speak for yourself."

"Yeah, we should probably stop drinking and go back or something…" Draco mumbled. "You know, before _you_ do something stupid."

Blaise snorted. "Sure, mate, sure. Me. Yeah."

They looked at each other and nodded as they made their way to the counter to pay for their drinks. Stepping out into the cool winter air, Draco tightened his scarf as Blaise put on his gloves.

"I had a late night," Draco said softly. "I better get back before I fall asleep right now. I can't believe we've been here for hours."

Blaise snorted. "You still up for that Quidditch match on Sunday?"

Draco nodded. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

They walked to the nearest Apparition and said their goodbyes.

.

.

.

As Draco stumbled into the flat, he was greeted by a light flickering in the kitchen.

Curious, he walked slowly and peeked in.

On the kitchen counter was a covered plate of food and a note sticking out from it.

Draco opened it to find a roasted chicken thigh and mashed potatoes. He sighed and sat down.

"She shouldn't have…" He mumbled as he picked up her note. "Oh shit."

_Malfoy –_

_I made this because I thought we could have dinner together but I guess you had something important to do. You know where to find me if you actually want to talk about it._

_ - Hermione_

Draco sighed as he held onto the small note that contained Hermione's neat script. He covered the plate of food and walked out of the kitchen, stopping in front of Hermione's door.

Hesitantly, he knocked.

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><p><strong>AN: **A short note; I won't be updating as often as possible once February rolls by (I'll be settling down in Uni so it'll take a while before I get everything back on track) so I hope that you won't give up on this story, because I won't!

All in all, thank you very much for your support so far, I love each and every one of you for it.

Thank you for reading and please review :-)

x


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **Hello! Thank you to all who reviewed/alerted/favourited! It really gave me motivation to write more chapters haha. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Also, there's a reply to the reviewer 'Relate' after the story. I don't normally do this but since you were an unsigned reviewer, I felt like I had to.

**Disclaimer**: DO NOT OWWWWN.

* * *

><p>Hesitantly, Draco knocked.<p>

"Granger?" He called out.

There was no reply.

He tried again. "Gran – Hermione, are you there?"

Draco shuffled around in his work clothes and sighed. He pressed his forehead against the door and crumpled the note in his hand. "Why am I so stupid?" He mumbled.

_There's not point trying to talk to her now if she's asleep or something. If I wake her up, it'll only make her madder than she probably already is, _Draco thought, walking to his room. _She probably doesn't even want to see my face right now. I bet she regrets everything._

Sighing, he started to walk away when he heard Hermione's room door slowly creak open. Draco unconsciously made a mental note to tell her to get that door fixed before he realized that she was calling out his name.

"Malfoy?" Hermione stood at the door, dressed in her t-shirt and pajama bottoms.

"Hermione," He said softly, averting his eyes away from hers. He didn't know what else to say or do. He had never actually been in many of these relationships before, where the girl actually liked him not the value of his Gringott's vault. "Did I wake you?"

She shook her head. "You're back." She stated, ignoring his use of her first name.

Draco looked at his feet and nodded. "Yeah."

"I can smell your alcohol from here."

"I… um… went to the pub with Blaise and Theo after work," He ran a hand through his hair. "Look Hermione –"

"Why are using my first name?" Hermione asked him softly.

She thought she saw a flicker of hurt in his eyes for a split second before he masked it.

"Can't I?" He eyes found their way back to hers.

"… I guess," Hermione laughed bitterly. "It's alright, then, if I call you Draco?"

"I guess," He shrugged, the corner of lip tugging up.

_What am I supposed to say to her? Why are my sentences even making sense? I should be pissed drunk right now! Aren't I pissed drunk? Why am I sitting down on the floor? Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit SHIT SHIT SHIT._

"I think … I think I need to puke," Draco mumbled, somewhat coherently before picking himself up and staggered toward the bathroom.

Hermione sighed and sat down on the sofa.

"What am I supposed to say to that insufferable git?" She mumbled, sitting in silence as she heard Draco's shower run.

_Did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to know that I had to come back right after work? All she said was to see me at home… she didn't tell me anything else. Should I have expected her to do something like that? _Draco's thoughts were flowing.

"You could have at least told me you weren't coming back for dinner. I would have just ordered take-out instead of actually _cooking_," Hermione said bitterly as Draco entered the living room area.

"It was a last minute plan, alright? It just _slipped_ my mind to tell you," Draco slung his towel around his neck as he finished towel drying his hair.

"Maybe next time, it would do you good to actually remember," Hermione snapped, crossing her arms.

Draco was taken aback. "What's the matter with you, Granger?"

"Oh, so we're back to calling each other by out last names, are we?" She said through gritted teeth. "You want to know what the matter is with me, _Malfoy_? The matter with me is that I expect too much. And when I do that, I often get disappointed. Like tonight, for instance –"

"If you must have it, I apologize!" He said in exasperation.

"I don't need your apology! I don't need your anything! I don't even know why I thought that _this_ –" Hermione wildly gestured at the both of them. " – was even a good idea! It's clear to me now that it isn't!"

"How do you know that it isn't? I'm sorry I missed dinner! I'm sorry I ruined your fucking efforts but for Salazar's sake, don't. Just don't, okay?" He cried out. "Don't tell me that this isn't a good idea when it hasn't even been tried out!"

"Why not?" Hermione yelled.

"Because! Because… I don't know why!" Draco's hands shook with annoyance. "Okay? I don't know why everything is happening like this! I told you before, it wasn't like I asked for any of this to happen! It just did! Me, liking you, I don't know why. I just do." He ended his last few words softly, looking into Hermione's eyes.

"Draco…" Hermione uncrossed her arms and walked towards him. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have expected –"

She was silenced when Draco's soft lips landed on hers. He slowly nipped at her bottom lip, as he pulled her closer to him. She slowly melted into his grip as her arms circled his waist. When Hermione let out a soft moan, Draco took that opportunity to gently let his tongue run over her lips. Hermione could feel him playing with the hem of her t-shirt as she gradually gave entry for his tongue.

He let his fingers run circles on Hermione's back as he deepened the kiss. He smirked as she ran her hands through his hair, messing it up even more. He broke away from Hermione and leisurely ran his lips on her neck, eliciting a small gasp from her. Draco licked her exposed skin, making her shudder in delight. Finding her pulse point, he easily sucked, nipped and kissed that particular spot, making sure he left a mark on her.

Hermione gasped loudly. She never knew that kissing like this could just feel so _good_. She could feel his desire for her pressing against her stomach. It made her feel both ecstatic and disgusted at the same time. Ecstatic because she didn't know that she could make him feel like that. And disgusted, mostly at herself because she realized that she wanted him.

Draco pulled away from her neck and stared at her. Hermione noticed the obvious lust in his eyes as she held onto him.

He took a step back and looked down at his pants. "Fuck," Draco hissed.

Hermione giggled as he groaned, trying to cover up his erection. "I actually had plans on taking it slow." He mumbled, a slight pink tint adorned his face.

"Yes, I can see that," she put her hand over her mouth, trying hard not to laugh at his embarrassment.

"Well… now we've made up and made out, what do you suggest we do?" Draco wiggled his eyebrows.

Hermione snorted. "Mal – Sorry, _Draco_ but I'm going to sleep." She hugged him lightly.

"Not gonna invite me, are you?" Draco called out as Hermione walked to her door.

She looked over her shoulder, ignoring his pouting. "Nope," she teased.

"Hey, it was worth a shot, you little minx," He winked at her before walking to his own room.

"You know, on second thought, maybe you could join me," Hermione said shyly. All her earlier bravado had now disappeared. "Just sleep. Nothing else."

Draco's face lit up and he gave her a lopsided smirk.

"Yeah. _Sure. _Just _sleeping_, right?"

.

.

.

_December 17_

_Day 73_

_Saturday morning_

"Mmmm Draco, your son is crying…" Hermione mumbled against her pillow.

"Nooooo. Before noon, he's _your_ son…" Draco whined and slung an arm over Hermione. He felt her snuggle up to him even more.

"How bout I just take him for the both of you?" A familiar voice rang throughout the room. "Seeing as you're both very comfortable over there."

Both Draco and Hermione stiffened in her bed. Hermione slowly opened her eyes and nearly sighed with relief. Draco, on the other hand, had decided that it wasn't worth it to wake up for the stranger, so he continued his slumber.

"Ginny!" Hermione cried out. "What are you doing here?" She sat up and glared at her best friend.

"Oh nothing, I just decided to pop over and remind you that Christmas is next week and the stores –"

"Oh my God!" Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth. "It slipped – I can't believe – I haven't even done the shopping yet!"

"Hermione… why are you so loud," Draco grumbled from under the pillow. Sometime in the night he had buried his head underneath one of Hermione's down pillows. "Shhh…"

Hermione rolled her eyes and slid off the bed. She was still in her t-shirt and pajama bottoms because Draco, surprisingly true to his word, only slept. "Git."

"Bum," He mumbled once more, swatting his free hand towards Hermione. "Go 'way, mummy."

Hermione left the room with a chuckling Ginny. Aidan cried in Ginny's grip so she passed him to Hermione.

"He's rather amusing when he's half-asleep, isn't he?" Ginny observed.

"Quite," Hermione agreed.

"Now, would you like to tell me what the hell was going on in there?" Ginny asked, plopping herself down on the sofa.

"Nothing!" Hermione answered in a heartbeat. She was trying to shush Aidan by rocking him and it was starting to work.

"Oh, you know you can tell me, right?" Ginny pestered the brunette once more. "C'mon, Hermy. Pleaaase?"

"I really don't think I should, you know, right now…" Hermione trailed off. "And don't call me that!"

"Harry and Ron don't mind if you like him, that is. Which I think you do judging from what I saw earlier," Ginny smiled.

Hermione frowned in confusion. "Why wouldn't they mind if I date Draco? And nothing happened, mind you!"

"I knew it! – well, mostly it's because they've worked with him and had once or twice shared a drink with his team and they know he's not that snot-nosed, albino ferret prick that he was back in school," Ginny explained.

"What about you? Don't you mind?" Hermione asked nervously.

Ginny snorted as she shook her head. "Honestly? No. You don't choose who makes you happy. If he does, then I supposed congratulations are in order. Harry and Ron, they both know that too. You're a grown woman, 'Mione. We trust you to make the right decisions." She reached her hand out to grasp Hermione's, squeezing it gently. "And hey, you're a pretty stubborn person, so it's not like we'd be able to change your mind anyway, right?"

Hermione chuckled. "Really," she shook her head, "I couldn't have asked for better friends than you lot."

"You shouldn't speak too soon because Ron and Harry, they're actually betting with Nott and Zabini to see when the both of you would get together!" Ginny exclaimed. "Ron and Harry are keeping the bet to 6 months but Nott and Zabini, 3 months."

"WHAT?" Hermione yelled. "You mean… all this time? When we've been living together? They've been _gambling_?"

Ginny nodded smugly. "Yep. See? Nothing to worry about. Even Harry admits that Malfoy's a pretty good guy, albeit a bit too much arrogance. So… are you going to tell me what happened?"

Hermione sighed. "You know how I told you that we sort of admitted we liked each other, yeah? Well, last night I thought of making dinner for us. But he didn't even come back! No note, nothing! So I just kept some food aside for him and wrote him a note. Naturally, I got a bit upset and went to bed early.

"Just as I was getting really comfortable with my book –"

"Spare me the book details, Hermione, please…"

" – I was getting there. I heard him come back. I tried to ignore him, and then he knocked my room door and called out my name. I hoped that he would go away but he didn't – I mean, he knocked again – "

"Hermione!"

"Fine! We had a little spat on why he didn't come back and stuff like that… one minute he was yelling, then he was apologizing and the next thing I knew, he was kissing me! And believe me when I say this, yeah? It was amazing!" Hermione gushed, momentarily forgetting that she was holding onto Aidan.

"You little slag…" Ginny teased. "Did you shag him? Merlin, _I_ would shag him!"

"Ginny! We didn't shag! It's too soon," Hermione hissed, closing Aidan's ears. "And please refrain from using that language in front of the baby!"

Ginny laughed. "Well, it was awkwardly nice dropping by but I think I should go and leave you alone with _ahem ahem_ there in your room. I just wanted to ask you what you were getting Harry for Christmas so we don't buy clashing items."

Hermione shrugged. "I was thinking maybe a new set of pens. He told me that he preferred them to quills. Oh, and please don't call him that…"

Ginny laughed and teased Hermione. "Haha! Good luck with your dragon."

.

.

.

"I can't believe you managed to talk me into having dinner with you _here_! Of all places!" Hermione hissed at the blonde man sitting opposite her.

He shrugged nonchalantly and continued to study the menu. "I'll be having the fire-grilled steak. What about you?"

They were having dinner in 'The Hungry Horntail', a Wizarding restaurant which consisted of mostly fire-grilled food. Rumour has it that the food was grilled by the fire of the horntail itself.

"The fish fillet sounds good – but what are you thinking? Do you know how many people could have seen us come in here? Together? And with Aidan?" Hermione controlled herself from yelling at him.

"What?" Still scaning the menu with complete nonchalance, he cocked his eyebrow. "Are you ashamed to be seen dining with me? Are you embarrassed at my presence? Is this what it's all about?"

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "You know how I feel about exposing Aidan to the Wizarding world…"

"He's going to be exposed sooner or later! Why can't you just relax and enjoy this evening without thinking about it?"

Draco said with a smirk, reaching out for her hand. "Come on, loosen up. "

He leaned in, "It's our night tonight, Hermione," and whispered with a smirk.

Oh how she loved it when he called her by her fast name. Coming from that mouth, it sounded like such a delightful sin. Hermione smiled softly at him and nodded. "Alright."

A small elf dressed in a waiter's outfit appeared in front of Hermione and Draco's table. "Hello, my name is Harvey and I'll be your server tonight. Are you ready to order, sir and madam?" His speech was impeccable and Hermione couldn't help but gawk.

Draco noticed this and gave her hand a little squeeze as to wrench her out from her staring. "Yeah, I'll have the steak, medium well and she'll have the fish."

"Anything else, sir?" Harvey enquired.

"Perhaps a bottle of wine that complements our meal. That will be all," Draco dismissed the elf who disappeared immediately.

"Don't talk about elf rights, please," Draco said, once the elf was out of earshot, interrupting Hermione who looked deep in thought.

She laughed. "Merlin, no! I was just thinking how fluent that elf's speech was. Amazing, really."

He smiled at her. "That's nice."

Draco played with Hermione's hand on the table, giving it soft touches.

"Is this… you know … like a date?" Hermione asked him nervously, after charming Aidan's milk bottle to hover and feed him itself.

"Do you want it to be?" He smirked knowingly.

She shrugged shyly. "Maybe."

He laced his fingers together with hers. "Then it is."

"So… what are we doing?" Hermione asked him slowly.

"Having dinner," He said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, I meant like, what are _we_ doing?" She emphasized the word 'we'. "As in… us."

"Oh," Draco said, looking at her with wide eyes. "I would have assumed that we were dating but if you seem to have thought otherwise…"

"We're dating?" Hermione replied. "Oh, at least I know what to say to Harry and Ron now."

"Why do you have to tell them that?" Draco frowned. "I thought things like this would be personal."

"No, it's because I saw them come in here! They're seated diagonally opposite us," Hermione whispered. "And now they're coming over here. Let's hope Ginny was telling me the truth earlier."

"Malfoy! Hermione!" Ron greeted. "Good to see you here! How are things?" He winked.

"What the hell are you talking about, Weasley?" Draco hissed before Hermione could reply Ron's greeting.

"You know…" Ron darted his eyes at the pair's entwined hands and winked again.

Harry tried to stifle his laugh as he saw Draco's reaction to Ron. Oh, how the blonde wanted to murder the redhead for being so blatantly ridiculous.

"Ron, you shouldn't interrupt their perfectly nice dinner," Harry pulled Ron aside and talked to him.

"I was trying to find out if we have a chance of winning that 200 Galleons!" Ron argued.

While Harry and Ron were left to argue at the side, Draco lifted an eyebrow when he noticed that he still held Hermione's hand.

"Just can't get enough of me can you, Hermione?" He asked her silkily.

Blushing, she pulled her hand away from his grip and crossed her arms. "You wish."

They noticed that Harry and Ron had stopped arguing and were making their way back to Hermione and Draco's table.

"Ron would like to apologize for his earlier behavior, wouldn't you?" Harry nudged his best friend.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure."

"Ron…" Harry said, warningly.

"Harry, it's alright," Hermione said. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Draco agreed reluctantly after Hermione had kicked him in the shins, under the table.

The pair grinned at them and went back to their own table.

"Do you think they're here on a date, Ron?" Harry asked his best friend once they had returned to their table.

"Cor, Harry!" Ron slapped his forehead. "I thought you would've noticed them _holding hands_ earlier?"

Harry blinked in surprise. "It's less than three months."

"What Zabini and Nott don't know won't hurt them," Ron grinned. "But on another note, Mione looks pretty happy with him, right?"

Harry nodded. "You're alright about them dating?"

Ron snorted. "Of course! I have Lav now. Hermione and I, we're just like siblings. It'll be just like dating _you._"

"Ew," Harry made retching noises.

"Exactly," Ron said triumphantly. "Now, did you see the Falcons play last night…"

Hermione had now removed the charm to feed Aidan as she noticed he was slowing down.

"Oh, you're so adorable, aren't you, Aidan?" Hermione cooed as she wiped his mouth. "I'm going to put a silencing charm around him so he can sleep, alright?"

"Anything you like," Draco mumbled. "The food's taking so long, it better be good."

Just after Hermione was done with the silencing charm, the food started to appear on their dining table. Their wine also appeared and had begun to fill their glasses.

All throughout dinner, Draco studied Hermione. He gathered that she was brought up to be a lady of etiquette, blood status notwithholding.

He loved the simple things about her, like how she would cut her food into small pieces before eating. Her pinky was always erected when handling cutlery and when holding her glass. How she would purse her lips while chewing. Her manners were something to be admired.

_She's just as good as those pureblooded witches_, Draco mused, _maybe even better. _

Hermione could feel Draco's eyes on her and she had unknowingly blushed.

A small smile played on Draco's lips as he watched her._ Beautiful_, he thought, _absolutely beautiful. Mother would absolutely love you_.

.

.

.

They walked out of Diagon Alley after a delightful meal. Draco had shrunk Aidan's pram and put it in Hermione's purse while he carried Aidan.

To the common man, they looked like a perfect, young family as they talked and laughed all the way back to Hermione's flat.

After Hermione placed Aidan, who had fallen into a deep slumber in Draco's arms, into his crib, she smiled shyly at Draco who was sitting down on the sofa.

He patted the seat next to him and smirked.

She rolled her eyes and smiled at him before walking over. As she was about to sit, she felt his hand tug her arm, causing her to fall and land in his lap.

"I've decided that I like this better," He whispered into her ear before nibbling her earlobe.

Hermione giggled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm not letting you go now. You're stuck with me for a while."

"I don't mind," Hermione said huskily back at him before placing a kiss on his lips.

"Neither do I," Draco winked before kissing her again.

She moaned as he slid a hand up her jumper and began to tease her naked flesh with his long fingers. His touch alone could make her go crazy, she wondered what would happen if they actually had sex. His hand then played with the edge of her bra, not daring to go any further.

"We're taking it slow, remember?" Hermione mumbled, breaking away from him.

She slid off his lap and leaned against his shoulder. He sighed and wrapped an arm around her.

"You make it very difficult for me to take it slowly," Draco whined. "You're just so in my face all the time!"

"Excuse me?" Hermione said. "I'll show you how 'in your face' I can be!"

He looked at her with lusty anticipation, bracing himself for another kiss. But that never came. Instead, she whipped her long, curly, brown hair into his face, letting him choke on his words.

Hermione laughed again before putting her had on his chest. "This is nice."

He nodded and placed a kiss on her forehead. "It is."

But to the small green beetle that was perched on Hermione's mantelpiece behind a picture of Aidan, it was more than just' nice'.

It was a breakthrough.

It was the perfect article to publish.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Thank you for reading and please review!

* * *

><p><strong>The upcoming section is a reply to the reviewer 'Relate'... just so you know so you can skip it.<strong>

* * *

><p>To the reviewer 'Relate':<p>

I would have appreciated it if you had left a signed review so I could reply you personally instead of replying you in a chapter. I am not even sure if you're reading this but I hope you are as I wish to clarify some points that you have clearly brought up in your two reviews posted for chapter 4 and 9.

First, I have to agree on your point that there is no point for segregation as they are all adults and out of school. As an avid reader of fanfiction, it is obvious that some of my readings have influenced my work as well.

Secondly, to your comment about the wandless magic issue, I would just like to say that I know that Rowling had not specified Draco to be a spectacular student. However, this is – I clearly state – only a work of fanfiction. I am a fan writing a story about the characters that Rowling has created. In my head, Draco can be intelligent and hardworking as well as an arrogant bastard. Draco is merely a character that I 'play' with as not enough was mentioned about him. As said before, this is simply a fanfiction which is most definitely 'non-canon' and is expected to have some flaws.

Thirdly, the fact that Draco would agree to stay in the flat is because Pansy's things are there. They have just lost a close friend. You can't expect Hermione to just simply uproot herself from her flat when Pansy's things haven't even been cleared yet. Perhaps in time, Hermione would move in to Draco's flat but at the time, it wasn't an option to be considered.

Fourthly, to your comment about Aidan speaking, I would love to inform you that it was Draco who made the comment about the computer, not Aidan. I hope that you understand that I have felt slightly insulted at your review claiming that I am not very knowledgeable about babies seeing as it was your mistake in reading. I hope that you will not be too quick to pass judgment in the future. And the fact about the teeth, it was a typo error.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for reading my story so meticulously to find and point out my flaws for me. Yes, I admit that I am indeed flawed and I know that my story is nowhere near perfect. I am only a person who has an interest in writing. I appreciate your comments and concern for my story.

I hope that in future, if you want to leave me a message (that needs a reply), please leave your email/contact as well. I don't feel comfortable answering reviews in public.

Thank you.


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